


Never Be The Same Again

by prettypinkliquid



Category: Fast & Furious (Movies)
Genre: Action, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Lovers To Enemies, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25725829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettypinkliquid/pseuds/prettypinkliquid
Summary: After a brawl in a Subway stairwell that was brought on by a misunderstanding, Riley and Letty call a temporary truce and head to a Starbucks to hash things out, only find themselves falling for each other, but their budding romance is at risk of jeopardizing the mission that will finally clear Letty's name. Can love survive?
Relationships: Riley Hicks/Letty Oritz
Comments: 7
Kudos: 3





	1. Secret Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! What you are about to read is the Riletty I wish I had written when I first fell in love with the pairing a year ago. I loved your idea about the coffeeshop, but I was still so green getting back into writing it intimidated me, and I was afraid I couldn’t do it complete justice, so I turned it into a flashback. The sequence of events doesn’t follow the original story per se, but it does contain plenty of the same kind of fluff that the other does. 
> 
> Also, I’ve always tried to stay away from song lyrics because that’s your thing, but I stumbled across this particular Melanie C song on an old burned CD, and it fit this pair way to well to ignore. I didn’t ask because like I said, this is a surprise. Hopefully you don’t kill me for it. I hope you enjoy.

The subway was crowded, full of people going about their busy yet mundane lives, completely oblivious to the two women engaged in an all-out brawl. Riley had taken Letty to the ground with a flying armbar, but the smaller woman had dislodged her taller and heavier opponent by sinking her teeth into Riley’s thigh. Letty rolled onto all fours and took advantage of a group of passersby to charge the younger woman, slamming into her and causing the pair to tumble end over end all the way down the stairwell.

They crashed into a heap at the foot of the stairs and Riley rolled the smaller woman off her with a grunt. For a couple of moments, they remained prone on the filthy concrete floor, both focusing on catching their breath. Riley discovered she couldn’t move her right arm, and knew she’d popped her shoulder out of the socket for the nth time. After doing an internal check and finding nothing broken, Letty turned her head and eyed the taller woman. “Hey,” she said.

Riley turned her head in Letty’s direction, and the older woman raised her hand that Riley had managed to get the cuff on, working it off with relative ease and making the younger woman snort.

“Why am I not surprised?” Riley asked.

“Shorty got skill,” Letty quipped.

Riley rolled her eyes and used her left arm to push herself up into a sitting position. She eyed the smaller woman warily, knowing after their tumble down the stairs she could easily overpower her. Then maybe she could finally start cluing the little Tasmanian Devil into what was really going on. Surely, she didn't think Riley really wanted to kill her, did she? The attempts had been halfhearted at best, Riley always making sure the smaller woman had an easy out so long as she was paying close attention. The shots she'd fired at her were blanks, and Dom's crew knew exactly where to be at just the right moment to foil the others. But Riley was confused as to why she was so desperate to tell Letty everything, she was better at keeping her cover than this.

_Because you got butterflies the minute you laid eyes on her, and since your relationship with Owen is a sham you don’t wanna risk losing her. That’s why._ Her inner conscience helpfully suggested.

_This is stupid, I don’t even know that she likes girls_ she thought.

_You don’t know that she doesn’t either._ Her conscience chimed in.

She shook her head slightly to rid herself of the annoyingly accurate thoughts and tried to focus on their present situation. “What the fuck are we doing?” Riley asked.

Letty eyed the younger woman in disbelief.

“Seriously, what the fuck are we doing?” Riley asked again. “We’re supposed to be on the same side here.”

“Ya think?” Letty growled. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t tried to handcuff me.”

“I wouldn’t have tried to handcuff you if I thought you’d stand still long enough to listen to me,” Riley snapped back. “Seriously, we really gotta talk.”

“About what?” Letty countered.

“What you think is going on, and what’s really going on,” Riley answered.

They got to their feet and Letty wince as she straightened her back. “Ugh, I will definitely feel that one tomorrow.”

“Tell me about it,” Riley said.

Letty noticed Riley was keeping her right arm cradled tightly against her body, easily recognizing the tale tell sign of a dislocated joint. “It’s dislocated,” she said.

“No shit,” Riley countered, wincing as she was bumped into by someone.

“Want some help popping it back in?” The smaller woman asked.

“Could you?” Riley answered, feigning ignorance of how to reset it. Normally she simply slammed it into the closest wall and loved doing it that way for the sheer shock value.

Letty backed the taller woman over to the nearby wall, and then carefully probed the joint, trying to determine the angle it came out from. Riley managed to block out the pain by focusing on her initial feelings for the older woman, and the fact that she was standing so close to her. “Standard in and out. If you back up about five feet and then slam yourself into the wall as hard as you did me a couple of minutes ago, it should go right back in,” Letty said.

Riley took a couple of big steps back and then slammed her shoulder into the wall, the pain diminishing as the joint reseated itself properly. She then rolled her head in a circle, eliciting several loud pops. Letty’s hiss was sympathetic. “So, you said you wanted to talk,” she said. “There’s a Starbucks three stops from here.”

“Sounds good,” Riley agreed. “Lead on.”

After ordering their drinks Riley and Letty settled side by side on one of the sofas. “So, what is it that I need to be let in on?” Letty asked.

“I gotta check with Luke before I give away too much, but let’s just say I’m not who he says I am,” Riley replied. “And you don’t have to be worried about who I really am, I’m not a threat.”

“I don’t wanna know nothing else. I’m too close to all this shit going away forever,” Letty said. “Especially since I can’t remember what I’m being cleared for.”

"Can't say I blame you. It would suck to know there was a rap sheet attached to my name that's full of shit I can't remember doing," Riley replied.

"Thank you. My brain is a combination of swiss cheese and scrambled eggs," Letty said. "They keep telling me to just get back out there and it'll come back to me, but I can't stop thinking about what if it's better if I don't remember?"

There was an awkward pause in the conversation, Riley unsure of how to answer her. “Sorry, my actual role in what’s going on was supposed to be my ice breaker, I suck at small talk.”

Letty smiled. “Me either,” she said.

Riley thought a moment, and a cliched idea came to mind. She knew Letty had been in her fair share of scraps, and like her, probably had a million stories to tell. Riley decided to start with their scuffle in the stairwell. “Sorry I tried to make one arm longer than the other,” she said.

Letty grinned. “Sorry I bit you,” she replied.

“S’ok, I like that kinda thing,” Riley teased.

Letty choked on her drink, caught off guard by the remark.

“Too much?” Riley asked.

“No, just most of the time they usually buy me dinner first," Letty teased back.

"They have sandwiches and stuff," Riley said.  
  
Letty started laughing and Riley found she liked the sound so much that if they both made it through this and were at least still friends, she wanted to hear it as often as possible. Despite trying to quell it, Letty found that once she started laughing, she couldn't stop, and Riley seized the opportunity to keep going. "They don't sell hot dogs though, we'd have to come up with something else for you to suck on."  
  
Letty held up her hands in the shape of a T, calling a time out, but Riley couldn't resist one last jab. "Is that a size reference?" She asked. "That's crazy, you don't strike me as a size queen."  
  
The smaller woman howled and lightly slapped the younger woman's thigh. "Better be careful, you might like that too," she gasped, reaching for a napkin to dry her eyes.  
  
"Nah, spanking's not really my thing," Riley replied. The comment set off another small round of giggles, and Riley decided to relent and let the older woman catch her breath.  
  
They laughed and chatted for the next several hours, talking about everything from middle names to favorite foods, trying to keep their conversation on subjects that were appropriate to talk about in public. At one point, Letty had stripped off her jacket and gone to the restroom, and Riley took the opportunity to borrow a pen from the barista and jot down her number on a napkin, tucking it into a pocket.  
  
Riley's cell phone went off just as Letty re-appeared, and when Riley checked, it was Owen calling. She let it go to voicemail, not wanting him to ruin the mood. Letty returned to the sofa they’d been sitting on with a bemused smile. “Dom just asked if he and Luke needed to send out a search party to find us,” she said. “He said Luke wanted to know which body to recover.”

Riley snickered, getting to her feet while Letty slipped her jacket back on. “Shoulda told him you and I had a long talk and decided that this was bullshit, and we were goin home,” Riley said.

Letty laughed. “Now I wish I’d waited to answer,” she said.

* * *

Later that same evening Riley was stretched out on her bed idly playing on her phone when she received a text from an unknown number. Smiling she opened it, certain she knew who it was.

**Its Letty. I just found your number.**

Hey!

**Gotta warn you I suck at texting**

That’s fine, so long as I can understand what you’re saying.

**I had a good time tonight, once we got tired of beating each other’s ass.**

Me too. We gotta do it again sometime.

**If we get downtime you can come hang out in my room with me**

I thought you and Dom would be in the same room. No?

**No. Not when things are high risk. He doesn’t sleep a lot and I gotta have at least six hours a night to be a functioning adult during the day. Plus, with my memory gone I don’t have any kind of feelings for him and he respects that.**

Right there with you about sleeping. And that’s sweet that he respects that.

**Just so you know,** **you can text me anytime you want  
**  
Same here

**If we make it outta this alive, you gotta teach me that takedown  
**  
With or without clothes on?  
  
 **What if I said both?**

Both as in

Or both as in

**Both as in**

Well well well, looks like we got something else in common. Maybe one of our hangouts can be a playdate sometime.  
  
 **Maybe. But I want it to be where if it happens it happens, know what I mean?  
**  
Yes. And I'm right there with you. If it doesn't fit don't force it.  
  
 **Duuude! You really gonna put that in my head right before I go to sleep?  
**  
No idea what you're talking about. 😇  
  
 **Uh huh, and I'm guessing the horns are there to keep the halo straight?  
**  
Exactly.  
  
 **I just realized why your eyes are brown.  
**  
Look who's talking.  
  
 **So, I told Dom to take the guys and go blow off steam tomorrow night before he drives me** **to shoot him. Wanna get together?  
**  
Sure! What time?  
  
 **I dunno, say around 8? Pajama style.  
**  
My favorite kind of party.

**I gotta find something to put on up top though, for me pajamas is just my underwear.  
**  
I do the same thing and no you don't. Unless the thought makes you uncomfortable.  
  


**🥱** **You wore me out earlier.  
**  
Get some sleep, we got a lot to do tomorrow.  
  
 **Good idea. Have a good night.** **😴😴** **  
**  
You too.  
  
  
Once she was sure her conversation with Letty was finished for the night, an insidious smile bloomed on her face and she dialed a number, putting it to her ear as it rang. On the third ring, the other end of the line picked up.  
  
"Hey baby. The bitch is practically eating out of the palm of my hand. Are you sure we can't have one playdate before I kill her?"

* * *

The following evening found Dom’s team out doing God knows what to blow off steam, and Luke’s team was doing whatever it was they did during their downtime. Riley knocked on the door to Letty’s room, and she was let in. “Hey chica,” Letty said as she closed and locked the door.

“Hey,” Riley replied as she moved into the room.

“I got the girl at the front desk to help me order some pizza, should be here shortly.” Letty continued.

“Awesome, I’ll run down in a couple of minutes and get a couple of sodas from the sundry,” Riley said.

Letty bit her lip. ‘I did that when I ordered the pizza,” she said. “I took advantage of our conversation about favorite foods last night.”

Riley laughed. When she saw that Letty’s TV was tuned to one of the three channels the hotel offered in English, she smiled. “Well, since you got dinner, the least I can do is provide the entertainment. Gimmie the TV remote.”

Confused, Letty handed over the remote and watched as Riley changed the settings on the TV and then picked up her phone. Seconds later, YouTube appeared on the TV screen. “If you have a Samsung phone like I do, you can sync it so that the TV will mirror whatever’s on your phone,” Riley explained.

“God I love you. I am so sick of CNN,” Letty groused, making Riley laugh. Letty pointed to a video that the app had highlighted, an episode of World’s Wildest Police Videos. “We apparently share a guilty pleasure.”

"You would think, with me being a cop, I'd hate watching it," Riley said. "But not only do I love it, I have favorite clips."  
  
"You'd think with my record I'd hate it, but like you not only do I love it, I have favorite clips too. Like the one where they bust the counterfeit vodka operation," Letty replied.  
  
" I love that one!" Riley said, navigating through the app until she got to her personal library, where she had a playlist of episodes. She chose the option to play all of them and then dropped her phone and the remote on the bed, knowing the TV would likely become background noise before long.  
  
There was a knock at the door, and while Letty went to answer it, Riley picked up her phone again and put it on silent before tossing it at the nearby chair. Owen wasn't ruining another night for her where the smaller woman was involved.  
  
Letty closed and relocked the door, skillfully balancing the sodas on top of the pizza box as she carried it across the room. When she reached the bed Riley snagged both bottles and opened them while Letty got on the bed and unboxed the pizza. "Only thing that would've made it better would be swapping the soda for beer," she said. "But they don't do that here."  
  
Riley wrinkled her nose. "Only way I can do pizza and beer is if both are cold," she replied.  
  
"Eww. I can do cold pizza, but not with beer," the smaller woman said.  
  
They chatted about this and that as they ate, Letty asked one simple question when it came to sex, and then they never changed the subject. They discovered they both had no problem with vibrators or toys used for penetration, but drew the line there, both loved to watch and laugh their way through the late night softcore cable movies, and both had a bucket list that revolved around sex. "I still wanna be a club member, but Dom is weirded out by the idea," Letty said.  
  
Riley laughed, needing no explanation as to which club she meant. "I joined that one on my way to basic. I can get you in, need to renew my own membership anyway," she said.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind for the flight home," Letty teased.  
  
They finished eating and cleaned up the mess, both agreeing they weren't in the mood to watch police chases. Riley gave Letty her phone so the smaller woman could check out her other playlists while she went to the bathroom. After relieving her screaming bladder and washing her hands, Riley stripped off the leggings, tank top, and hoodie she'd thrown over her boyshorts, smirking to herself as she thought about Letty's reaction.  
  
In the main part of the room Letty picked out a playlist she was pretty sure Riley had forgotten was on her account, but thought it would set the mood perfectly for the rest of the night. She adjusted the pillows so they could curl up together, then put them back, worried it was being to presumptuous.  
  
She looked up as Riley came out of the bathroom, and her heart hammered in her chest at the sight of the woman in nothing more than her black satin underwear. Their conversation had sparked a dull ache between her legs and it quickly grew to an intense throb. "I'm gonna go change right quick, I mean this is a slumber party right," she said and then hurried into the bathroom, trying to not be caught staring at Riley's perfect chest.  
  
Riley smiled and turned the bed down, stacking the pillows up and then slipping between the sheets, settling against them. She grinned when she saw that Letty had started her "HBO: Real Sex" playlist, and quickly navigated to a favorite segment, knowing it would be the perfect thing to watch if the smaller woman wasn't already as aroused as she was.  
  
The bathroom door reopened, and the older woman emerged, and had also stripped to her underwear. Letty wasted no time crossing the room, crawling across the mattress, and straddling Riley's lap. The younger woman's hands slid up Letty's thighs to curl themselves around her hips and the pair sat staring at one another for a long moment before they both leaned in and their lips met in a kiss. "God that felt good," Riley rumbled when they parted.  
  
"Mmmhmm," Letty agreed, pulling her lower lip through her teeth. Their lips met again, and they gradually went from chaste pecks, to open mouthed kisses when Letty's phone went off, alerting her to a new text. "Ignore it," she mumbled between kisses.  
  
Seconds later it began to ring, and the ringtone was the one set specifically for Dom. Letty growled deep in her throat, and started to tell Riley to just ignore it too when it stopped ringing and then instantly started again. "He wouldn't be insistent unless it was an emergency," she said. _It better be an emergency or so help me I'll cut his balls off in his sleep.  
_  
She got out of Riley's lap, snatched her phone off the bedside table and stepped out onto the balcony. Riley watched the door with a bemused grin, expecting to hear Letty take his head off for ruining the mood. The exclamation of "What do you mean Mia's gone?" made Riley's heart skip a beat, and she got out of the bed and hurried into the bathroom to get dressed.  
  
She had a feeling she knew what had happened to Dom's sister, and who was responsible. At the last minute, she scribbled a note on the pad next to the phone, folded up her hoodie and laid it on the bed with the note on top.  
  
She slipped from the room and headed for her own. She'd use being keyed up and aroused to give Owen a little video chat peepshow and see just how much she could get him to tell her.  
  
Letty re-entered her room and her face fell when she saw that Riley was gone. She spotted the hoodie on the end of the bed, and when she went to pick it up she found the note.  
  
Think my problem houseguest has decided to drop by unannounced. Use this to cuddle with until he decides to leave.  
  
It took her a minute to realize that Riley was talking about her period. "That has to be my favorite way I've heard someone mention Aunt Flo," she said. She tucked the note into her bag and then slipped the hoodie on, burying her nose in the fabric and inhaling deeply, comforted by Riley's lingering scent. She climbed into bed and took a minute to sync her own phone to the TV.  
  
She'd hoped that the night would end with she and Riley taking turns wearing each other out. While that didn't happen, she did get to feel the younger woman's lips against her own, and Riley's hands on her body. It wasn't much but it was something, and that something was more than enough for now.

* * *

Riley lay in bed watching the alarm clock on the nightstand. Two more minutes until the drug would take complete effect and she could get up. Until a week ago, she hadn’t really minded the sex with Owen, seeing it as nothing more than a physical release, like a one-night stand. She was grateful for his belief that they had to keep what he thought was her true nature hidden if possible, it meant that going a couple of weeks without being together was no big deal.

Something inside her changed after that night with Letty at Starbucks. Now the thought of him touching her repulsed her so much that she’d used a contact to get a hold of something that would knock him out and at least spare her of having to endure more than one round with him at a time.

She and Letty had spent time together last night, and the evening ended with a kiss. At that moment Riley decided Letty’s hands were the only one’s she wanted to feel on her skin ever again. She knew that refusing to hook up would make Owen suspicious, but she still felt as if she was cheating on the smaller woman.

The two minutes up, Riley got up from the bed and grabbed her phone before hurrying into the bathroom. She closed the door and then hit her knees in front of the toilet seconds before she began to vomit. When she detected a sweet taste in the back of her throat she knew she was bringing up stomach bile, and began forcing herself to calm down. She thought back on part of the conversation that had occurred during her sleepover with Letty, in which the smaller woman had told her she was welcome to come curl up with her anytime she wanted. Not wanting to just show up unannounced, she sent Letty a quick text.

You awake?

**Yep.**

That offer still open?

**Always.**

Riley spent a moment putting a plan together in her head so that she’d be ready to explain her disappearance when Owen woke and found her gone. She’d simply tell him that Luke had come looking for her, and was insistent on talking to her ASAP, so she’d gone back to the room she had at the hotel where the others were staying. Once she was sure she could sound believable, she replied to Letty’s text.

Don’t gotta tell me twice. I took a walk to try and unwind so it’ll take me a bit to get back to the hotel.

**No problem just come over when you get ready.**

See you in a bit.

Riley got up, and quickly padded back into the main part of the hotel room, dressing quickly, and slipping quietly from the room. As she walked towards the front entrance to the hotel, she sent another text, this one to Luke.

He’s planning to steal the tank tomorrow to get the chip. And he’s upped the game. He’s got Mia.

She tucked her phone into her back pocket and glanced over her shoulder at the night clerk as she walked out the front entrance and headed down the sidewalk.

Just over an hour later Riley padded down the corridor to Letty's room and knocked on the door. She'd taken a shower after returning to the hotel, wanting to wash off any reminder of her prior activity. She couldn't wait til this was over, and she didn't have to see him anymore, much less sleep with him.  
  
Tears of frustration came to her eyes, she was so desperate to tell Letty the truth about everything, not happy that their budding relationship was being built on a web of lies. This bullshit wasn't worth losing her over, but at the same time it was the only way to help clear her name. That’s what she’d been doing this for since that night at Starbucks. It’ was no longer about bringing Shaw and his gang down, it was about helping the woman she’d fallen in love with clear her name. Riley quickly became frustrated that she couldn't make the tears stop and didn't have a believable excuse to tell Letty when she opened the door.  
  
The door opened and the smaller woman appeared, Letty growing concerned at seeing one tear after another sliding down Riley's cheeks. "What's wrong?" She asked, pulling the younger woman into the room. Riley felt herself completely dissolve into a torrent of tears, and couldn't stem the flow, much less make them stop.  
  
Letty locked up and then pulled the tank top over her head, leaving her in her underwear. "Strip down and come to bed," Letty murmured, hoping her tone would help soothe the taller woman.  
  
Riley stripped down and then curled up in the bed but couldn't stop crying. "C'mere," Letty said softly, pulling the younger woman over so that Riley's head was on her shoulder. "It's okay baby, I promise. Whatever it is, it's okay," Letty said, taking advantage of last night's conversation and gently stroking chestnut locks.  
  
Riley curled an arm over Letty's torso, her close presence, and the sound of her heartbeat an anchor against the storm raging in Riley's head. No, it wasn't okay. Until everything was over, and Letty knew the truth and had accepted and forgiven Riley for it, it would never be okay.  
  
"This is all over, be ready to go away for awhile. Somewhere it takes a satellite phone to contact the outside world," Riley snuffled.  
  
"Where the most strenuous thing we do all day is each other, unless you count picking up a drink," Letty quipped softly, making Riley snort.  
  
Riley's nerves began to settle, and she shifted, enjoying the sensation of being wrapped in someone's arms. She loved to be held. It was a rare moment when she got to ignore all the training and discipline, and just be a woman. How long had it been? Three years? Nico, that night in New York. They'd been posing as a couple looking to buy kids to essentially use as slaves, trying to bring down one of the biggest human trafficking rings in the country. He'd begged her to blow the mission and run away with him. His dad had a huge ranch in Montana that you wouldn't know existed if you didn't know the family, and no one would ever find them. But she wouldn't walk. The mission and her career were too important.  
  
Now, though, it was a completely different story. If Letty knew what was going on, and asked her to walk away from this, they'd be on a plane by dawn. She wouldn't even care what their destination was, so long as they were together.  
  
A whisper ghosted across her ear. "Did you drift off on me?"  
  
"Nuh uh," Riley murmured, nuzzling the skin her cheek was pressed against and tightening her hold.  
  
"You stopped crying though, so that's good. What are you up to tomorrow?" The smaller woman asked.  
  
"Whatever it takes to bring that bastard down so I can get you alone somewhere and have my way with you," the younger woman answered.  
  
Letty laughed. "We're alone now, so what's stopping you?"  
  
"Shaw's still at large and it would be our luck that Luke would come banging on the door right as were getting to the best part," Riley answered.  
  
Letty knew she was begging for trouble, but couldn't resist asking. "There's a best part?"  
  
Riley traced a teasing line along the waistband of Letty's underwear, smiling at the gasp it prompted. "Uh huh," she murmured. “You know if the guys get wind of this we’ll never hear the end of it dontcha?”  
  
Letty held up her hand with her fingers shaped like an O. “The number of fucks I give about what they think,” she said. “Do me a favor?”  
  
"Mmm?" Riley asked.  
  
Letty patted the fluffy cushion next to her head. "Put your head here and face the wall," she said.  
  
Riley felt her heart drop at the thought of not getting to sleep in someone else's arms. Oh well. This had been better than nothing she guessed. She did as asked, surprised when Letty moved with her and shifted so that the smaller woman's nose rested against her shoulder, their clasped hands snug in the soft hollow between her breasts. "Much better," Letty mumbled. "This way I can hold you all night and not have a dead shoulder tomorrow."  
  
The tears threatened to come back, but this time Riley didn't mind. She lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of Letty's palm, smiling when she felt the older woman's lips press against her shoulder in response. She closed her eyes and tumbled into a world that consisted of little more than the two of them, and in it they existed only for each other.  
  


* * *

“You’re sure he’s kidnapped her?” Luke asked the as he wove through traffic in pursuit of the tank.

“Positive, he’s keeping her as a bargaining chip. He gets captured, he’ll threaten to kill her to guarantee he can walk away,” Riley answered. “And no, I don’t know where she’s being held. He refuses to tell me because of how deeply I’ve gotten involved with Letty. He trusts me, but he doesn’t trust that you won’t do something to make me tell you where she is.”

“What’s up with that anyway?” Luke asked. “You and Letty.”

“We’ve gotten attached to each other,” Riley answered, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to let on that things had moved past friendship and into a potential relationship when all this was over. “How much can I tell her about the mission and my actual involvement?”

“You can’t tell her anything, not with her still being tied to Shaw. We’re too close to taking him down once and for all,” he answered.

Riley sighed in frustration. “She’s going to beat my ass when she finds out.”

“You worried about that?” Luke asked.

“No but do me a favor. When and if it happens don’t pull her off me unless you think she’s legitimately about to kill me. I want her to get it out of her system,” Riley answered. “If shit goes bad, make sure you tell her I’m sorry.”

“When the shit hits the fan, because it will with the way things are goin, I'll make sure she knows whose side you're really on," Luke agreed.

“He expects me to go with him if he uses Mia to ensure his freedom,” Riley said. “He’s afraid he’ll lose his source.”

“You have to go with him if that happens. Right now you’re still our best source to knowing what’s going on inside his organization, and the only way to know what his plans are for Mia,” Luke replied.

“You so owe me when all this bullshit is over,” Riley growled. “I expect to go away for a while and for you to temporarily forget my name.”

“We get him in custody I’ll make sure the department arranges for you disappear to someplace it would be a pain in the ass to track you down unless it was the apocalypse,” Luke promised. “I’ll even tell em you’re bringing your girlfriend.”

Riley shot him a disapproving glare.

“What?” He asked, feigning innocence.

Riley couldn’t quite hold the expression, over the years she’d come to see him as more of a big brother, and he a little sister in her. They had each other’s backs but then at the same time loved to antagonize the shit out of each other. “She isn’t my girlfriend,” she said, shooting him a sideways glance before muttering “Yet.”

“She’ll come around, though I dunno what she sees in you,” Luke teased.

Riley answered him by slugging his right shoulder. “OW!” He said. “Assault on a police officer is a felony you know.”

“So is about ninety five percent of the bullshit I’ve done during this case under your orders, but here I am,” came her retort.

Luke started to say something else when traffic came to a screeching halt. “Hold that thought,” he said getting out of the car.

Riley pulled her phone out of her pocket, and quickly fired off a text message to Letty as she heard the rest of her team violently taking Owen into custody.

It isn’t what it looks like I promise! Ask Luke! I love you!

By the time Riley caught up with the group and made herself aware of the situation, Owen had revealed that he had Mia.

“Don’t worry, she’s alive for now. You wanna make sure it stays that way, you let me walk,” Owen said.

Riley let the groups reaction to the news go past her, quickly morphing into her role as his underhanded girlfriend. Owen began to walk away, and as he did, he cast a look over his shoulder. “You comin babe?”

Because she was standing behind Letty, she could tell the group thought she was who he was talking to. _I’m so sorry baby. I love you._ She stepped out from behind the smaller woman and walked towards him, refusing to look back, knowing that if she saw the betrayal in Letty’s eyes, she’d blow the entire operation.

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”


	2. It All Comes Out In The Wash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation that has Riley leading a double life finally reaches conclusion, Letty gets a reality check, and Luke makes good on his promise.

Letty stared at Riley's retreating back and her eyes stung with tears. She'd been played. She couldn't believe she'd been so foolish to think that maybe she had a chance at a new love to go along with getting her name cleared and a whole new life.   
  
She never wanted to hear that bitch's name ever again, and they could both rot in hell. She hoped she got the opportunity to get her hands-on Riley one last time because she'd either kill her or die trying. Letty made a mental note to unpack the hoodie she'd so carefully tucked away and do something to permanently ruin it so when she tossed it the hotel wouldn't offer to ship it to her.   
  
A hand on her arm startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up into Luke's face. "I need you to ride with me. If you wanna be mad at someone for what just happened, be mad at me, not her. She only did what she was ordered to do," he said.  
  
He turned and quickly headed back to his car, and she hurried after him, confused. They got in the car and sped towards NATO's headquarters, where Luke knew Shaw had a getaway plane waiting. "I'm gonna start at the beginning and give you a quick rundown, and then answer questions if we have time alright?" Luke asked.  
  
Letty nodded, though she was still on the fence about placing the blame on Riley.   
  
"Two and a half years ago she was part of a team I took in to do some undercover recon. During a brief chance meeting he fell head over heels for her, and after some serious convincing she agreed to start a relationship with him. Over the course of the last two years she's fed him carefully controlled information and played the part of the double agent. He thinks they're a legit couple, and until she met you she played the role seamlessly," he explained. "You entered the picture and it's been a daily battle to keep her focused on the task at hand. She's wanted to tell you from day one, but because you both have history with Shaw we couldn't risk it. "  
  
Letty sat in silence as everything suddenly made sense. Riley's claim that she wasn't who Letty thought she was and that she wasn't the bad guy. The failed icebreaker at Starbucks, and her sudden exit when Letty found out Mia was missing. Even the cryptic text she'd gotten. The younger woman had wanted to tell her all along, but it went against her orders.   
  
"Does anyone else know about her true role in all this besides you?" She asked.   
  
"Just Dominic," Luke answered.  
  
She was still angry. Angry that Riley had been forced to play a part she didn't want to play, angry that Riley had wanted to be honest about things right from the start but Luke wouldn't let her, angry that Dom had known all along and hadn't told her. She could've kept quiet and played along too. She wouldn't dare do anything to get Riley hurt. Not after that night at Starbucks.  
  
They arrived at the airstrip just in time to see Dom attempt to hit Riley as he drove the car onto the plane. "What the fuck is he doing!?" Letty yelled in outrage.  
  
"Giving Shaw the hard sell," Hobbs replied. "He doesn't know she's not really on his side remember?"  
  
Letty wasn't convinced. They drove in after Dom and as soon as the car cleared the bay door it began to close. Hobbs put the car in park and shut it off, his team locking it down while he got out and made a beeline for Riley who was doing something on her phone.   
  
"Where is he?" He asked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Letty storming towards Dom and mentally winced at the ass chewing that was about to go down.  
  
"He wouldn't tell me where she is so I pretended not to hear him when I saw Dominic coming, and we got separated. From the angle he saw it looks like I got hit, but it wasn't even close," Riley explained, giving Dom a sympathetic look. Hopefully Letty got it out of her system before it was the younger woman's turn to be on the receiving end of that temper.  
  
"So we're still at square one and he can still kill her," Hobbs said.  
  
"Wrong. The last time we were together I planted a little something in his hotel room. On our way here he asked if it was true and I said yes. The only other time I've seen him that happy was last year in Mosul when he thought he took you out. He sent me a text right after we got separated asking if I was okay cause he saw Dom hit me. I told him I was having stomach cramps. He sent me the coordinates for the rendezvous point. He wants to do an even swap, me for her," she said smugly.  
  
"Girl you are something else," Hobbs said, grinning as held up a fist and Riley bumped it with her own.   
  
"Remember what I told you. We're done, I'm disappearing for a while," she warned.  
  
"We get him in custody, the last time I saw you was getting into an elevator to go back to your hotel room, and you were alone," Luke said. He took a better look at the coordinates. "We can't get there tonight, not enough light to see properly, and it's a safe bet he trusts me just as much as I do him."  
  
They both ducked in reflex at the sound of a loud crash, and looked over to see Dom backing away from Letty with his hands raised in a defensive posture. The smaller woman kept advancing on him as they moved in a circle, turning anything she could get her hands on into a projectile. "I'm gonna go talk to the pilot," Luke said beating a hasty retreat towards the cockpit.  
  
Riley gave him the stink eye and shook her head. She cautiously approached the situation and took a moment to come up with an opening. "Sweetheart we couldn't risk it with your memory the way it is," she said.   
  
Letty whirled around to focus on the taller woman and Dom took the opportunity to make a quick exit, leaving the two women alone. She took in Riley's relaxed posture, and the smirk that tugged at the edges of her lips, as if she were quite pleased with herself. "I bet you think you're cute," Letty fussed as the younger woman approached her.  
  
Riley stopped short, her expression changed, and she looked slightly confused. "Don't you?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Don't try to sidetrack me," Letty warned. "He knows I hate being strung along with my memory the way is. Yet not only did he agree to let you do it, he went along with it too."  
  
Riley understood. Letty wasn't mad at any particular person, but the situation on the whole. Her memory loss was hard enough on her already and finding out everyone around her had been outright lying to her for weeks had just made it worse. "I'm sorry our relationship was built on a web of lies," Riley said.  
  
"Was? You sound like it's something that used to exist," Letty said.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, I want us to be together, but I haven't given you much of a reason to trust me, so I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to keep me at arm’s length from now on. Even if all we'll ever be is friends from now on, I'll take that," Riley said quietly. Her gazed dropped to the floor and she bit down hard on her tongue to keep the tears at bay.  
  
"Hey," Letty said, softly. She closed the distance between them, taking the younger woman's hand in her own and squeezing it, prompting one set of brown marbles to look into the other. "I still want you; I don't care how complicated this gets."  
  
Riley ducked her head and they shared a brief, chaste kiss. An exaggerated sigh got their attention and they looked up to find Luke watching them with a shit eating grin. "I love sappy endings," he said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.   
  
"We'll talk more later," Riley murmured to Letty before raising her voice to address Luke. "What do you want?"  
  
"If you two lovebirds will come with me, we'll discuss the game plan for tomorrow while we head back to headquarters," Luke replied.

“We’ll be right there,” Riley said.

Letty waited until Luke had gone back to join the others before she spoke. “When we get to the hotel, pack your stuff. I don’t care what any of them think, or say, or whatever else. We are sleeping in the same bed tonight. Period,” she said.

“I promise not to argue if you promise me something in return,” Riley said.

“I promise. What am I promising you?” Letty asked.

“Dunno, haven’t thought of it yet,” Riley answered smugly. “Don’t worry though, I will.”

Letty mouth fell open and she lightly punched Riley’s shoulder when she realized she’d been conned. "I can’t believe I fell for that," she said. "C'mon, let's go see what the boys have come up with and then figure out a plan that will actually work."  
  
Hand in hand they headed for the forward cargo bay where the crew had assembled. Everyone had taken up perches on various boxes and crates, except for Luke who was standing in front of the group. Letty climbed up onto a stack of boxes before pulling Riley over to stand between her knees. "So, what's the plan?" She asked, looping her arms around Riley's shoulders and making it quite clear to everyone that their relationship was way past uneasy allies. _That’s right boys, this is mine._  
  
"He wants to do an even swap, but I don't doubt he'll try to kill Mia anyway. Riley has managed to convince him she's pregnant, and we should be able to use that as leverage," Luke said. "Per the ultimatum, someone with a gun will escort her..."  
  
"Dibs," Letty interrupted, meeting Luke's glare with one of her own. "You owe me."  
  
Luke conceded with a nod and then continued. "And will make sure that Mia is completely in the clear before stepping away from Riley. We'll have two snipers who will be in communication with each other. As soon as one of them has a clear shot, they'll take it. Everyone good?"   
  
"No, because once he goes down, we're both sitting ducks. You know they won't hesitate to open fire " Letty said.   
  
"Got a better idea?" Luke asked.  
  
"Private swap. Or what he thinks is a private swap. One driver, one guard, one captive. He's done it once before on my suggestion because if anything goes wrong three people are easier to kill than a dozen. You and Dom drive, we do the swap and I'll drop him. Then you can lock him up or do whatever you want with him," Riley suggested. "He won't try anything, and I can promise you he'll give whoever he brings with him orders to not shoot."  
  
"You sure about that?" Dom asked.   
  
"Positive," Riley said. "You can set up back up if you want, because he will, but I can promise that after this morning you won't need it."  
  
"Any objections?" Hobbs asked. No one spoke. "Get everything buttoned up and get ready to land."  
  
Something about the expression on Riley's face gave Hobbs pause for thought, and when the group broke apart as the plane got ready to land again he pulled her aside. Letty refused to let the taller woman get more than an arm’s length away, but he couldn't bring himself to try and excuse her. "What happened this morning?"  
  
"On our way to the plane I teasingly asked him what he would do if I asked him to let her go and turn himself in," Riley answered.  
  
"What did he say?" Luke asked.   
  
"He always intended to let her go and wants a chance to know his child outside prison walls before he turns himself in," Riley replied. "I'm guessing the only reason he changed his mind about Mia is because in his mind she's keeping us alive and out of custody."   
  
"Or he thinks you lost the baby and intends to use her to get even," Letty chimed in.   
  
"I can take care of that. I'll text him shortly and let him know you agreed to let me get checked by a doctor and that the baby and I are both fine," Riley said.   
  
"Sooner rather than later please. Make sure she's okay too," Letty said. "Dom will still be pissed that he's got her but knowing she's unharmed will make it slightly easier to cope with."  
  
Riley pulled out her phone and fired off a text. "Do you want him to get the ultimatum now too?" Letty asked as they waited for his response.   
  
"No, we do that now and he'll have all kinds of time to set up an ambush. We tell him first thing in the morning and give him about half an hour to meet us," Riley answered. "Keep him at a point where he doesn't have time to make a calculated decision and Bryce can't make him second guess himself."  
  
"Who's Bryce?" Letty asked.  
  
"Officially he's a former double agent, but unlike our girl here he decided to commit to the wrong team," Luke said.   
  
"Unofficially he tries to make himself as valuable as possible to Owen so in the event he gets captured no one will challenge Bryce to take over as leader," Riley added.  
  
Her phone chimed and she saw that it was a response from Owen. She read the text out loud. "Tell ol' Hobbs that so long as my wife and baby are okay so is the sister. You get some rest tonight and call me tomorrow and we'll exchange valuables," she said.   
  
"Wife? Please tell me you didn't marry this clown," Letty said.   
  
Luke snorted and Riley chuckled. "God no. That's his way of saying how much I mean to him. I'm his partner, and the only other person aside from his brother that he sees as an equal."  
  
Letty nodded her head as though she got what Riley was saying, but it still didn't make sense. There was a jolt as the plane touched down again at NATO headquarters. "Are we good?" The smaller woman asked.   
  
"We're good," Luke replied, not bothering to hide a smile.   
  
"Great. See ya," Letty said. He chuckled and shook his head as she took Riley by the hand and lead her towards the plane's exit door without so much as a backwards glance.

* * *

Several hours later after an enjoyable meal, the pair returned to the hotel where they packed up Riley's gear and moved it to Letty's room. The taller woman placed the three nondescript shipping boxes on the bed and gestured to them as she sat down on the mattress. "Open em," she said.  
  
Letty's eyebrows knit, and she reached for the smallest of the three boxes, finding a pair of the heavy boots that everyone on Hobbs team wore. The next box contained a thin, sleeveless shirt, tactical pants, and thick gloves. She smiled, and it grew wider when the third box contained a bulletproof vest that was designed to be worn beneath regular clothes.   
  
" I know you're a badass, but I want you to come out of this in one piece, especially after what we gotta do tomorrow. I ordered everything when we came back to the hotel after our conversation that night at Starbucks. Starting then, my reason for wanting to bring Owen down went from catching the bad guy to helping someone I care about clear their name,” Riley said.   
  
"I want to come out of this on the other side in one piece too," Letty said, flabbergasted that the only thing Riley seemed to care about was her and helping her clear her name. She refused to dwell on it, afraid she’d ruin the moment. "If he looks at you wrong I'm pulling the fucking trigger, I don't give a shit what the plan is"  
  
"I know you will which makes the new clothes necessary, they'll shoot back" Riley replied, picking up the vest. "Strip off your shirt so we can make sure it fits comfortably. I'm not worried about the pants and shoes."  
  
Letty obediently took off her shirt while Riley unfastened the velcro straps on the vest. She slipped it over the smaller woman's head and when Letty wiggled it down into place she helped her tighten and adjust the straps until it was snug but comfortable. "It will feel weird until you get used to it. Unfortunately, we don't have time to turn it into a second skin," Riley said.  
  
"What's that take?" Letty asked as she rolled her shoulders before raising her arms above her head to test her range of motion.  
  
"Sticking it in a dryer on high heat for thirty minutes every night and then sleeping in it. Takes about two weeks," Riley answered.  
  
Letty looked up to protest the idea, and realized the taller woman was teasing. "Bitch," she said.  
  
Riley chuckled. "The only thing that turns one into a second skin is time, but I swear by sleeping in one every night for the first week. You get used to it quicker, and I promise I'm not kidding," she said.  
  
"No thanks," Letty said. She stripped off the vest and handed it back to Riley. "I'm gonna shower, I am so ready to get outta this bra."   
  
She disappeared into the bathroom and Riley stood, transferring the boxes and their contents to the nearby table. She moved back to her gear and untied her boots before stepping out of them. She stripped off the long-sleeved shirt she typically wore under her vest and dropped the garment on top of her bag when a pair of arms slid around her waist from behind. She smiled and allowed those same arms to turn her around and guide her into the bathroom.  
  
An hour or so later they padded back into the bedroom, Letty turning the bed down while Riley synced her phone to the TV. "I figured out what I want for the promise you made," she said as she watched the smaller woman stack the pillows against the headboard.  
  
"This oughta be good. What is it you want?" Letty asked.  
  
"To be the little spoon," Riley answered simply.  
  
Letty looked over at the younger woman, fully expecting a smug smile. Instead Riley's expression was wistful, as if she was asking for something she had rarely gotten to do before, if at all. Letty flipped the blankets back and got in bed, settling with her back against the pillows. She motioned for the younger woman to join her, patting the empty space between her legs. Riley crawled into the indicated spot and got settled while Letty covered them both up.   
  
The older woman began to gently stroke her partner's arms and shoulders, placing a soft kiss behind her ear. "Gotta admit, when I was going through all the things you might possibly ask me, this never even entered my mind," Letty said.   
  
"It's because everyone thinks I'm some hardass with a heart of ice who doesn't care about anything except my career," Riley said.  
  
"When really you're a marshmallow that's perfect for cuddling," Letty added. "Wanna know a secret?"  
  
"Mmm?" Riley vocalized.  
  
"The other night when you came to my room and you were upset I expected you to fight me wanting you to put your head on my shoulder and then again when I made you the little spoon, because you're bigger than me," Letty explained. "I was so happy when you didn't."  
  
"I will never fight you on something like that, unless you're sick or hurt," Riley replied. "I love to be held, I love touch period actually."  
  
"We're perfect for each other then," Letty said. "Just like you find comfort in being held, I find it in holding someone. So, you can be the little spoon as much as you want, even all the time."  
  
Riley wriggled happily making Letty chuckle.

“Hey,” Letty said softly. ‘You know how you said to be ready to disappear for a while once all this is over?”

“Yeah,” Riley whispered.

“Pick somewhere that we don’t have to get dressed any more than we are right now,” Riley said.

“Boyshorts and bikini bottoms, got it,” Riley murmured.

* * *

_She was sitting outside on a balcony, snuggled beneath a blanket, between it and the nearby heater she was comfortably warm. There was movement beside her and she turned her head, smiling as the smaller woman settled next to her, and handed her a steaming mug. She felt a movement from within and looked down, smiling at the visible bulge in her abdomen, knowing that the tiny soul that was nestled within the protection of her womb was turning to settle down for the night._

_A hand other than her own reached over to rub the upper curve, and they both smiled as the hand within tried to follow its larger counterpart. Both women smiled and rested their heads together. They couldn't wait for the baby to leave the cocoon of its mother's body and join them in the outside world. It would happen all too soon and yet somehow not soon enough._

The next morning found the two women up early, and they chatted while they got dressed. Riley chatted with Luke about the ultimatum until they came to an agreement on what it needed to say and then she sent the text to Owen.  
  
 **Meet us at NATO headquarters in two hours. Nobody but you, Bryce, and the girl. The baby and I are okay, and if you want it to stay that way don't bring anybody else.  
  
Please don't try anything. I just wanna do the swap and then go somewhere and hide until the little one gets here.**  
  
She let Letty read the text so she knew what was going on, and then sent it. Minutes later she got a response.

**We'll be there. We're going somewhere that you and the baby will be taken care of, and then after it gets here and I get to spend some time with it, I'll turn myself in.  
**  
Riley let Luke know, and then showed the response to Letty. Riley's phone went off again, and she saw it was a text from Luke. She grinned when she read it, and then read it out loud to Letty. "Make sure your bags are packed and bring them down with you. You'll be leaving from the rendezvous point to go straight to the airport," she read.  
  
"No clue as to where were going though," Letty said.  
  
"I have a couple of ideas, and all of them meet the requirement you wanted last night," Riley replied.  
  
"Boyshorts and bikini bottoms, good," the smaller woman grinned

Riley began making mental notes, preparing a solution for every possible outcome for the swap. “Does Mia know any Spanish?” She asked.

“She speaks it fluently. Why?” Letty countered.

“Shaw doesn’t speak it, and neither does anybody in his gang. If things start to go wrong, I want you to tell her to run like hell,” Riley answered.

“I can do that. How are we doing this?” Letty asked.

“I wanna know what Luke has put together first, but ideally we get to the destination point, you and I get out of the car and your body language makes it known you won’t hesitate to gun me down if he tries anything. Mia and I swap places, and hopefully he’ll be so busy trying to rub it in Luke’s face that he won I can knock him out. After that, he’s Luke’s problem,” Riley explained.

“I was thinking we should put you in handcuffs, like we don't trust you not to take a swing at me, much less pick up a weapon."  
  
"Good idea," Riley said, tying her shoes.   
  
Letty unzipped a small pocket on her bag, pulling out a set of brass knuckles. "Before you say anything I don't care if they're illegal. You can hide these in your hands and then slip them on without anyone seeing them," she said. "I don't doubt your ability to take him out, but..."  
  
"Better safe than sorry," Riley finished, smiling. "Put em in the same pocket as the handcuffs."  
  
Letty dropped the heavy item into the same pocket she'd tucked the handcuffs into moments earlier. "I want you to keep the key, so that if something happens you can get your hands free," she said.  
  
"I have two, and have already tucked one away so that it's easily accessible," Riley said. "Been thinking, how about we drop a little bombshell on him as they're loading him up to cart him off to jail?"  
  
Letty grinned. "I'm all ears."  
  
Two hours later as they approached the location they had designated as the rendezvous point, Letty lifted her head from Riley's shoulder. "Are you sure the gun caliber will work? I thought your vests could withstand pretty much everything but armor piercing rounds," Letty questioned.  
  
"It can, but a shot to the stomach at close range would still be like one of us punching her in the gut without her vest on, and would be more than enough to terminate her pregnancy," Luke replied.   
  
"Okay, but I'm gonna be behind her when we get out," Letty said.  
  
"When you start walking to escort her you move up to her left-hand side," Dom chimed in. "We'll both have high powered automatics trained on her to emphasize the point that if he tries anything we'll kill her."  
  
"Remember, both Riley and Mia have to be back at the opposite car before Riley will make her move," Luke added.  
  
"Which is bullshit," Letty replied.  
  
"He won't let his guard down until then baby," Riley soothed.   
  
"He's not gonna be able to leave with her I promise. We've got local support on standby, including two air units," Luke added.  
  
They arrived at the pre-determined location, and Dom slowly rolled towards the car where Shaw already stood waiting, giving himself and Luke the chance to scope the area and make sure they hadn't been set up.   
  
In the backseat the two women untangled themselves from each other, and Letty pulled the knuckles and the handcuffs from her pocket. She gave the knuckles to Riley, who curled them into a fist, and then held up her arms, allowing the smaller woman to slip the cuffs around her wrists and tighten them. "Sit tight til I open the door," Luke said as he and Dom exited the car.  
  
Alone for the moment, the pair shared several soft kisses before resting their foreheads together. "Promise you'll come back to me," Letty whispered.  
  
"I promise baby. I won't even leave your eyesight," Riley replied.  
  
The door opened, and Letty watched as her lover disappeared and was replaced by the bitch that had tried to kill her the week before. She let the anger and rage she'd felt at being betrayed surface, and when they got out of the car it appeared to Owen as if one of them would kill the other if given the opportunity. They stood side by side and waited until Bryce had gotten out of the vehicle with Mia before they began to approach Shaw's car.   
  
The two parties met halfway, and Riley and Mia traded places. This was the part Letty dreaded most. Once Riley left her side she could no longer protect the younger woman and had to trust that things would go exactly to plan. She walked backwards as they retreated and watched as Bryce did the same. When Riley made it to Owen's car he kissed her, and Letty bit her tongue to keep the smile off her face when she saw the almost imperceptible shudder.   
  
Riley moved behind him to get in the car and began watching for the perfect moment to strike. She took advantage of the door being between them to slip the knuckles on her hand. She didn't technically need them but given that Letty had her own issues with Owen, using them was Riley's way of letting the smaller woman get in a parting shot. "This isn't over Shaw," Luke yelled.   
  
_Take the bait maggot. I dare ya_ Riley thought, knowing Owen was incapable of letting Luke have the last word. True to his nature he turned his attention to the other party, and Riley seized the moment, putting Owen on his back with a well-aimed blow

Shaw hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, and a flash at the corner of her field of vision caught her attention. She easily identified its source and its owner. Gun. Bryce’s gun. In an instant the only sound she could hear was that of her own heartbeat, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Her instincts and training took over and she raised her hands, using them like a club to deflect the gun. 

There was a shot, something warm and sticky sprayed the side of Riley’s face. A metallic scent reached her nose as she fell back into the car. Copper. No, Iron. That meant the substance coating her face was blood. She’d been shot. _I’m not typically much for prayers, but if anyone’s listening, I’ll gladly accept the fate I’ve been given so long as Letty is spared the horror of watching me be gunned down._

Time seemed to return to its normal speed and Riley realized she was still breathing. She focused on the signals her body was sending and didn’t detect any pain. The blood on her face wasn’t her own. As she got out of the car she realized that Bryce was lying next to Shaw, and she could tell someone had blown his brains out. She looked in the direction of the other car and saw Dom with the gun still raised to his shoulder. The fact that he was the one who fired the shot that killed Bryce was all out of order for their strained yet civil relationship. Not to mention, his girlfriend didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore, choosing instead to get into a relationship with Riley. That alone should’ve given him pause to pull the trigger. But he did it anyway.

Luke was running towards her a full speed barking orders into a walkie as he approached.  
"Scene secure get me a medic, a marked unit and a transfer team in here now!" He ordered.  
  
By the time he made it to Riley she was standing in the open with her arms raised. Luke quickly used his key to remove the cuffs, then pounced on Shaw, rolling him to his stomach and using the same cuffs to secure him, keeping a boot on his back while he assessed Riley for injuries. "You alright?" He demanded.  
  
"It's not mine," Riley answered, indicating her bloody face, and then nodding at Bryce. "Tell Dom to keep her back, I don't want her to see me like this, she's upset enough as it is."  
  
Luke relayed her request to Dom and hoped he could keep the smaller woman under control long enough for Riley to get cleaned up.   
  
All of Luke's requested resources roared into the area, and from the other end of the lot he and Riley both could hear Letty's frustrated screams. The medics got out and Luke gave them a quick triage. "Got a DOA, a prisoner that needs to be checked for transport and extradition, and an undercover agent who needs a bath and some breath mints," he said.  
  
"The bath I can help with, the breath mints not so much," the medic said as he dropped his bags and knelt to check on Owen who was beginning to come around. Riley took advantage of the opened bag and grabbed some gauze squares and the bottle of alcohol.   
  
She quickly doused the gauze with the disinfectant and then used the material to scrub the blood from her face. She used the back window to check her reflection and make sure she'd scrubbed off all the blood, then pulled a tiny bottle of mouthwash out of a pocket on her thigh and gave her mouth a quick rinse. She spit it out on the asphalt and then gave Luke a grin. "Comes in handy to wash the taste of bad guy off your tongue," she quipped.   
  
Luke made a face at her and turned to address his team. A quick glance towards the other car told her that Dom was beginning to lose his fight to keep hold of Letty. "Tell him to let her go," she said with a grin.  
  
Luke gave Dom the all clear, and Letty came barreling towards them. Luke hauled Owen to his feet and both men watched as the smaller woman jumped into Riley's arms, locking her legs around the younger woman's waist as their lips met.   
  
When they came up for air Riley gently stood Letty on her feet and then turned to address Owen. "My little secret," she said. “And now that this is over I can forget you and get on with my life.”  
  
"You’ll think of me every day for the rest of your life, and we both know why," Owen growled.   
  
"No she won’t, she's not really pregnant," Letty said smugly.   
  
Luke never gave Owen a chance to respond. He shoved him at two of his crew. "Get him outta here," he ordered.  
  
As Owen was taken away the trio turned and headed towards their own vehicle. "Is Mia gonna be okay with the change in dynamic?" Luke asked.  
  
"It'll take some time, but yeah. Us goin away for a while works to her benefit. She can get used to having her brother to herself, and not get frustrated waiting for me to remember, which may never happen" Letty answered.   
  
"So, about this trip..." Luke started in a tone that was all too familiar to Riley's ears.   
  
"What did you do?" She asked.  
  
"Exactly what I promised you I'd do. But I can't control mother nature," he answered. "The airport at your destination has cancelled all flights for the next twelve hours to allow a major storm system to clear the area."  
  
"So we basically can't leave til in the morning is that it?" Letty asked.  
  
"It won't kill you," Luke replied.   
  
"I don't think either of us is complaining," Riley said. "Besides, it'll give me the chance to debrief and get your reports done while we wait."  
  
Luke gave her a grin that implied that he was hoping she'd say that, and Riley rolled her eyes.   
  
"It should take us no more than what, thirty minutes to get back to the hotel?" Letty questioned. "After that you got two hours to get whatever she needs to do done. Comprende?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," Luke said.

* * *

Later that afternoon Riley returned to the suite she and Letty had been assigned to and felt relieved that she was alone. Letty had no idea that all Luke had actually needed from Riley was a statement about the earlier event that resulted in Owen's capture, and the taller woman had snuck off to use the remaining time she had to do a quick bit of shopping for something to wear as a surprise tomorrow when they disappeared. Letty not being here allowed her to hide what she'd bought without the smaller woman getting suspicious.  
  
She quickly tucked the shopping bag into her gear so that it was out of sight, and then headed into the bathroom to relieve her bladder. While she was in the bathroom she heard Letty return, and called out to her to let her know where she was. The hurry she could hear in Letty's voice when she replied, accompanied by a rustling sound told her they'd both had the same idea.

When Riley came out of the bathroom, she found Letty standing outside on the balcony, and moved to join her. There was still something she needed to get off her chest before she could truly relax and enjoy the new life she was anxious to build with the smaller woman. “Can we talk a minute? I still haven’t been completely honest with you about everything that’s going on,” she said.

"Okay," Letty replied, wondering how many more twists this entire debacle had, and how many involved Riley and thereby her.   
  
Riley turned and leaned back against the railing, loosely crossing her arms over her chest. Her expression was smug, so Letty wasn't too concerned that it was all that serious. "For the last six months or so I've been quietly making arrangements so that when all of this is over I wind up with something other than a clap on the shoulder and Luke telling me how awesome I am. Starting with that night at Starbucks, it turned into doing something for both of us," Riley explained.  
  
"Okay," Letty repeated, though this time it had a hint of confusion.   
  
"I've been reassigning some of Owen's assets to myself, and you through me," the taller woman continued.  
  
"Which are what exactly?" Letty asked.  
  
"How would you like to live in San Francisco, vacation in Hawaii, and travel back and forth via private jet?" Riley countered with a grin.  
  
"Hell yeah, sign me up!" Letty exclaimed. She padded over to stand between Riley's feet and threaded her arms around the younger woman's waist.  
  
"Haven't got to the best part though," Riley said, draping her arms over the smaller woman's shoulders.  
  
"There's more?" Letty asked.  
  
"Oh yeah. On our way to the rendezvous point I transferred over enough cash that we won't ever have to work again unless we want to," Riley answered. "And everything I've done has been recorded by the department and is completely legal. "  
  
"Holy shit!" Letty said. "When I agreed to take the job the most I was hoping to get out of it was clearing my name so that I could start fresh regardless of whether or not my memory came back. Get the monkey off my back. Instead I got my name cleared, a new relationship with a gorgeous partner, and the kind of lifestyle I dreamed about as a kid. If I'm dreaming somebody's getting an ass kicking when they wake me up."  
  
Riley laughed. "I promise you're not dreaming baby," she said, ducking her head and capturing the older woman's lips in a kiss. It deepened and lasted until they were breathless. Riley gave Letty's bottom lip a quick nip, earning a squawk. "See?"  
  
As an answer Letty slid a hand down and lightly slapped Riley's right cheek. "Hey!" The younger woman protested. "I thought I told you spanking's not really my thing."  
  
"So what is your thing then?" Letty asked.   
  
"You," Riley answered simply. "Everything about you is my thing."   
  
Another kiss, this one finding Letty's hands slipping into the back pockets of Riley's jeans. "Why don't we order room service and eat dinner, then take a hot shower and see how many times we can make people call the front desk with noise complaints?" She husked when they parted.  
  
"Sounds perfect under one condition," Riley said. She pulled her phone from her pants pocket and held it up. "These have to either be in another room, or set so we're not bothered."  
  
"There's a speaker that has a docking station in the bedroom, and mine will only play the apps that have permission to make noise once it's set on do not disturb," Letty suggested.  
  
"I'll turn mine off and charge it in the living room," Riley added.   
  
"Then let's go order dinner, and piss some people off," Letty said.  
  


* * *

  
"How many times did they call?" Letty asked hours later. They had gone until their bodies reached the verge of exhaustion, at which point Riley insisted on a quick trip to pee, followed by a shower to rinse off all the sex crud, before taking a nap.  
  
"I took the phone off the hook when we got to double digits," Riley mumbled. She was lying on the sofa with her head on Letty's lap, and they both giggled.

They were silent for a few minutes, each content to be lost in her own thoughts, when Letty realized something. There was a topic that had never come up in the many nights they’d spent chatting. “You know what I just realized? Out of everything we’ve talked about, we’ve never discussed us and how we want people to see us,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Riley asked.

“I’ll start. When we're together you have permission to touch me however you want. Grab my boobs, smack my ass, put your fingers inside my clothes, stuff like that. You can do it whenever you want because nine times out of ten I'm horny for you," the smaller woman said.   
  
Now Riley understood. They had never discussed how much affection and intimacy they were comfortable with showing in public. "Anytime we're out somewhere, and wind up sitting side by side, expect to find my hand on your thigh," she said.  
  
"Will it just be sitting there?" Letty asked.  
  
Riley smiled and rolled to her back so they could look at each other. "Depends on the surroundings and how much I think we can get away with," she answered. "I've told you before that I love touch, but that's an understatement. I crave it. Don't be afraid to touch me. Put your head on my shoulder, hold my hand or even my finger. Trace your fingertips over my forearm or wrap your arm around my waist. Just touch me. I'll love it and I guarantee it'll drive me crazy."  
  
Letty smiled outwardly, but inwardly her heart broke. How touch starved did someone have to be that it was always mentioned each time they talked about intimacy? She instantly made up her mind to touch Riley as much as possible in the hopes of reprogramming her mind. "If you catch me looking at your lips when we talk, just kiss me," she said. "Because that's exactly what I'm thinking about right at that moment."  
  
Riley shifted again as if she were struggling to get comfortable, quickly pushing herself up and propping herself up on her hand. She gently captured the older woman's lips in a kiss, resting their foreheads against each other when they parted. "Like that?" She husked.  
  
Letty chuckled. "Yeah, just like that."  
  


* * *

_She walked along the beach at the shoreline, allowing the warm water and swirling sand to massage her aching feet, the fingers of one hand loosely tangled with her lover's. They were days away now. A week at most, according to the midwife at her last appointment. She been experiencing mild contractions off and on for the past few days, and on the advice of the midwife she'd begun to take a walk every evening, to help her body open up and prepare to give birth. She rested a hand atop her heavily swollen abdomen, pressing gently and smiling as seconds later there was a dull movement that made that same hand move ever so slightly. "More room out here you know, you can't live in there forever," the smaller woman said, making them both giggle.  
  
They knew they should expect the little one to arrive any day now, and had made last minute preparations in anxious anticipation. The nursery, and their bedroom were assembled and lay in wait for the impending arrival.  
  
She couldn't wait for the baby to arrive, to be able to see the tiny perfect face. Nothing else would cure the ache in her arms. She stopped as a cramp rippled through her, much stronger than before, and gasped as she felt liquid trickle down her thighs. Her partner's hand felt for and touched the spreading dampness and they shared a smile. At long last, it was time.   
_  
The next morning after oversleeping and rushing to get packed they groggily boarded the aircraft. It turned out neither of them were fans of being awake this early, which surprised Letty. She was sure with such a regimented background Riley was an early to bed early to rise type.   
  
They settled in the seats and buckled in, both trying to stay awake as they were greeted by a sweet older woman with grey hair and a Southern drawl, who Riley recognized. "Good morning Mae," she said before being cut off by a large yawn.  
  
Mae shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "Lord help, what time did you both go to bed? Ten minutes before you had to be picked up?" She asked.  
  
Letty smiled and found herself instantly at ease, reminded of her own grandmother. "Luke decided to wait until six thirty to tell us we were being picked up at seven," she explained before she yawned too.  
  
Mae shook her head. "That boy," she said. "Once we reach cruising altitude you take yourselves back there to that bedroom and tuck yourselves in, hear? I'll see you at lunch."  
  
"Yes ma'am," Riley said.   
  
Mae returned to the crew area of the plane, and it turned, starting down the runway and quickly picking up speed. They were airborne in seconds and the takeoff roll was completed in under a minute. While they climbed through the early morning clouds Riley thought back to the dream she’d had last night. _Must be getting close to my period. I always dream about the weirdest shit._ The plane levelled out, and a chime signaled that it was okay to stand up.   
  
Riley unfastened her seatbelt, prompting Letty to do the same. They made their way back to the bedroom and Riley closed and locked the door. "Mae has a key to get in if there's an emergency," she explained. She moved up behind the smaller woman and ducked her head to nuzzle an ear. " It's also soundproofed, so you can earn your membership later."  
  
Letty smiled and turned to face her younger lover. "Given our future travel arrangements I expect to have VIP status at some point," she replied.   
  
They helped each other undress until they were down to their underwear, and then crawled into bed. Both yawned again as they got settled, Riley pressing the button on the bedside table to turn off the lights. They gravitated towards one another in the dark, each seeking solace found in the other's touch, relying on it to do what their eyes could not in the pitch black of the room.  
  
Despite the ordeal with Shaw being over things were still too raw to not need the physical reassurance that the other was still very much beside them, and they had made it out of the whole thing not only alive, but together. They spoke no more but drifted to sleep in blissful silence.  
  


* * *

_Pain, so much pain. A pain the likes of which she'd never felt before. Getting shot four times on duty overseas had hurt less. It throbbed and it burned, her body seemingly at war with itself. Her partner was there as she squatted between her legs, guiding, encouraging, giving her the strength to keep going when exhaustion demanded she stop. When the sensations became too much, and her only thought was to push against them, the midwife appeared.  
  
There was a pressure that built and built until it reached an apex and she pushed past it with one final burst of sheer willpower. It released and her body relaxed and all at once there was something there that wasn't before. A tiny being was placed on her chest, pink and wiggly and wonderfully perfect. There was a loud squall and the midwife helped with the afterbirth and then the cleanup of the little one while her partner tended to her needs before helping her to bed. _

_She got settled, and her partner settled beside her. They watched in wonder as the midwife approached the bed with a wiggling bundle in her arms wrapped in a soft pink blanket, indicating the little one was a girl. The bundle was placed in her arms, she, and her partner both overjoyed at the sight of newborn. “Hello Scarlett,” she said._

_The newborn grunted and fussed; her tiny tongue poked out in irritation. She smiled, removing the blanket, and turning the little being in her arms. She exposed her breast and tickled the newborn’s lips with the nipple, she and her partner both watching as the little mouth opened and then closed around the teat, engaging in an activity that was as old as time itself. The baby’s suckling sensation was strong, and it drew a sigh of contentment from her chest._

The sigh became a soft moan as she woke from the dream, but the sensation at her breast remained. Maternal pride was replaced by arousal as Riley opened her eyes only to close them again seconds later as Letty stopped using her tongue to trace circles around the nipple she was teasing and started sucking on it. Riley sank a hand into ebony locks and her hips shifted, legs opening wider in invitation.

Letty let go of the nipple she’d been teasing and lifted her head. “Wakey wakey,” she said and they shared a smile.

“You can wake me up like that anytime baby,” Riley replied.

“I’m gonna go pee and then I wanna play,” Letty said, getting up out of the bed and taking the few short steps to the bathroom. Riley sat up and began tossing the pillows off the bed before kicking the sheets and blankets down out of the way. Letty returned from the bathroom, crawled across the bed and straddled Riley's lap. Their mouths met again and again in wet, opened mouthed kisses. "I love that sound," Letty said between kisses.  
  
"What sound?" Riley asked.  
  
"The sound our mouths make when I kiss you," the smaller woman answered.  
  
They kissed again and it quickly deepened, Riley pressing her fingertips into Letty's skin as she slid her hands up the smaller woman's torso. "Make love to me," Letty husked minutes later. "Please? I want your hands on me so bad."  
  
Riley felt herself grow incredibly wet at hearing Letty beg for sex. She clamped her hands onto the older woman's hips, gently lifting her off her lap and onto her back on the bed. The taller woman shifted onto all fours and stretched out on her side, propping her head with her hand.  
  
She slid her free hand over Letty's ribs and up to her right breast where she trapped the nipple between two fingers. Riley kneaded the ample flesh, gently tugging on the nipple on the release. She lowered her head and drew the remaining nipple into her mouth, sucking on it and letting it rake over her teeth on the release, timing it so that it she was tugging on the right one at the same time. "Feels good," Letty husked, threading a hand into the younger woman's hair.  
  
Riley abandoned Letty's right breast, sliding it down the dark-haired woman's abdomen to the satin covered flesh between her legs. She lightly stroked swollen flesh, drawing a moan from her lover's chest. Letty sucked in a loud breath through her nose and released it through her mouth. When Riley's thumb began stroking her clit, Letty's eyes rolled back in her head and she moaned loudly. "Fuck yes!" She cried.  
  
Riley began massaging the bundle of nerves, while at the same time kissing and nibbling the smaller woman's full mounds. She slipped her hand beneath the waistband of Letty's underwear, moaning as her fingers dipped into her satiny warmth. "I love how wet you are baby," Riley burred.  
  
"For you," Letty replied.  
  
Riley plunged two finger's into the older woman's depths, working them furiously in and out, rapidly pushing her towards orgasm. "Oh God...Oh God...Oh God," Letty began chanting.   
  
Riley pressed down on her lover's clit with her thumb and Letty screamed as her climax hit her hard. Riley slipped her fingers from the smaller woman's quivering flesh and Letty grabbed the younger woman's wrist. "Don't stop," she breathed.  
  
Riley let loose a sexy chuckle. "Oh no baby, I'm just getting started."  
  
A couple of hours later found the two women back in their seats in the main part of the cabin and enjoying lunch. When Mae brought their main courses, she handed Riley an envelope. "What's that?" Letty mumbled around a mouthful of chicken.  
  
"It's the details for the getaway spot Luke picked for us," Riley answered, sipping from her water glass.  
  
"Where we goin?" Came Letty's next question.  
  
"Soneva Jani, the most expensive resort in the world."


	3. It's Not a Secret Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls arrive at the vacation Luke promised them only to find out they're not alone after all

When they landed at the airport, they were escorted by Soneva staff to the resort's private lounge. There they were approached by a different member of staff. "Good afternoon ladies, I'm Bijoux and I'll be taking care of you while you're here I'll be taking care of you and getting you checked into your villa. Do you have your reservation number?" She asked.  
  
Riley handed over the envelope that she'd been given on the plane. "Excellent," Bijoux said, taking the envelope. "Feel free to have a snack and something to drink if you like. You're my only reservation for today so you'll be on your way to the resort shortly."  
  
While she went to check them in and make arrangements for the seaplane to take them to their villa, Riley and Letty took stock of the selection of drinks and snacks that were available. "Dunno about you, but I'm still kinda full from lunch," Letty said.  
  
"Me too," Riley agreed. According to the paperwork we've got a forty-minute flight ahead of us though."  
  
"Good point," Letty said. "In that case, a bottle of water and something munch on I think."  
  
"Sounds good," Riley agreed again. She tucked a pair of water bottles and a couple of packs of chips into her shoulder bag, and Bijoux returned with their information.  
  
"You are all checked in and ready to go. Is this your first time staying with us?" Bijoux asked. The two women nodded. "Our villas usually come with a personal butler who are on hand to discreetly take care of your every whim. We call them either Mr. or Ms. Smart. Due to your status as an undercover officer the resort wishes to protect your identity and privacy and has therefore put yours into what we call 'on call' duty. She will meet you at the jetty and escort you to your villa, and outside of her duties that take place when you're away from your villa, there is a button on the white phone in the entryway of your villa that you can use to alert her to any of your needs."  
  
"That's fine," Riley said.  
  
"Good," Bijoux said. "Now if you'll follow me, the seaplane is ready to take you to the resort."  
  
An hour later their butler opened the door to their villa and helped them bring in their luggage. "Would you like help getting your bags to the master bedroom?" Ms. Smart asked.  
  
"Please," Riley answered.  
  
The butler lead the way to the master bedroom, with the two women at her heels. Once they entered the bedroom Riley and Letty became so overwhelmed with the view they failed to notice when she left the room.  
  
They parked their suitcases out of the way, and while Riley explored the rest of the room, Letty found herself drawn to the floor to ceiling windows and the incredible view they afforded her. Arms slid around her waist and Riley's chin rested against the top of her head. "Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.  
  
"Coming here was a mistake," Letty murmured. "I'm not gonna wanna go home."  
  
Riley chuckled softly. "I hear you. Why don't we go check out the rest of the house, then go check out the restaurants and get something for dinner, then come back and play in the lagoon?"  
  
Letty turned in her arms and smiled. "Sounds good," she said. They shared a kiss and then left the bedroom hand in hand.  
  
After wandering through the house and checking out all the little hidden nooks and crannies, they wandered up to the central building known as The Gathering, that housed all the restaurants and shops. They decided to go with the buffet, because they were both hungry but couldn't pinpoint being in the mood for anything.  
  
They loaded up their plates and then were helped to a table by a host, who also took their drink order. Riley noticed that Letty seemed to be a bit hesitant to completely relax. "You okay?" She asked.  
  
"I'm fine, why?" Letty countered.  
  
"You just seem a little tense is all," Riley said.  
  
Letty smiled. "I'm sorry, my brain is waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me," she said. "I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm being set up. I know you're not, or I hope you're not, but..."  
  
"You keep waiting for the bubble to burst and find out the real reason you're here," Riley finished for her.  
  
"Exactly," Letty said.  
  
"I promise I'm not setting you up, but I get why you feel that way. To you this kinda seems too good to be true," the taller woman replied. "I'm just gonna keep treating you like this is our new normal, because it is, and let this problem go away on its own, because I promise it will eventually."  
  
"That's exactly how I feel, and thanks. I want it to go away," Letty said.  
  
The host returned with their drinks, and Riley took a sip of her water. "So, impressions so far?" She asked.  
  
"I love that they confiscated our shoes and you're not only allowed but expected to go barefoot the whole time were here," Letty replied. "I think that should be the rule for the house in Hawaii."  
  
"Me too and it is," Riley agreed. "I'd go barefoot everywhere if I could. Did you notice that the master bathroom is outdoors?"  
  
"I did! Plus, it has direct lagoon access. Did you see the size of that shower?" Letty questioned.  
  
"Uh huh, plenty of room to play, I mean uh shower at the same time to get ready quicker," Riley answered, not quite able to keep the smile off her face.  
  
Letty snickered into her plate. "All sorts of beds and lounges to play, I mean nap on too," she teased.  
  
"I saw that, and I expect to find the best one in the villa by the end of the week," Riley said as she used her fork to strip the breast meat off the chicken she'd picked. "Was thinking, we should do lunch at one of the restaurants tomorrow and dinner at the other. That way we can determine where we wanna eat every day the rest of the week."  
  
"Sounds good," Letty agreed. "I thought the kitchen was kinda useless, I mean there's not a grocery store here."  
  
"Thought that too. I love that there's not a TV in every room," Riley said. "I'm okay with one in the bedroom for those days when you're sick but having one in every room is too much."  
  
Letty nodded in agreement.  
  
They finished dinner and took a quick peek at the ice cream parlor and the adjoining chocolate room before deciding to come back later for dessert. Letty wanted to stop and take a quick stroll through the shops. "That way we know what's available here and what requires a trip back to the mainland if we need anything," she said.  
  
Riley smiled and shook her head but didn't argue. While Letty poked around the second shop Riley took advantage to sneak over to the concierge desk and make a couple of inquiries, the main one potentially allowing them to check something off their bucket list. The answer she got wasn't quite what she was hoping to hear but her disappointment was tempered when she learned she wasn't the first to ask. She met Letty at the doorway to the shop. "Where'd you sneak off to?" The smaller woman asked.  
  
"I got us signed up for the turtles. They have several nests that should hatch while we're here and I thought it would be kinda cool to help make sure the babies make it to the water," Riley answered.  
  
"Awesome, I hope they hatch while were here," Letty said. "C'mon, let's go get wet."  
  
Riley's expression went smug and she inhaled to speak but the older woman cut her off. "Don't," she warned.  
  
It was twilight by the time they got changed and got in the water, having agreed to get in off the boardwalk, and make their way around to the cordoned off section that lead to their bathroom. "It's so warm," Letty said.  
  
Riley dropped below the surface, swimming into the shadowed water.  
  
"Where'd you go?" Letty asked. Unbeknownst to her, Riley had swum around in an arc, keeping herself just outside the water that was illuminated by the villa's exterior lights. She came up behind her and grabbed her ankle, making Letty scream.  
  
Riley surfaced, and her cheeky grin was met by a splash of water that was aimed at her face. She cupped her hands and threw a double handful back in retaliation. The couple eyed one another for a long moment before the water exploded in an all-out war.  
  
They stopped after several minutes, laughing, and gasping as they caught their breath. Letty paddled up to the taller woman, and Riley snagged her hips, wrapping her arms around them and pulled her close. They shared several kisses. "I love you," Letty murmured, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck.  
  
"I love you too baby," Riley replied. They floated along in silence for a few minutes, relying on Riley's longer frame to keep their heads above water, before untangling and swimming towards the privacy partition.  
  
Just before they reached the opening in the partition a movement below the surface caught the smaller woman's attention, and Riley took the opportunity to slip away towards the steps. A few minutes later Letty noticed she was alone again. "Oh no you don't," she growled playfully, determined not to be snuck up on again.  
  
She dove beneath the water and powered her way towards the steps, determined to get the drop on her lover. When she surfaced at the foot of the steps, any thought she had of trying to get revenge on the taller woman promptly disappeared. Letty allowed herself to surface slowly, wanting to commit as much of what she saw as possible to memory.  
  
Riley was stretched out along the steps, her right leg was bent and her foot rested beside her left knee. She was backlit by the lights and she was reclined back on her elbows. She was topless, the water droplets that clung to her skin shimmered in the light and added to the eroticism of the moment.  
  
Letty rolled in the water to assure that her hair was slicked back out of the way and then pulled herself up the steps with her hands until she reached the taller woman's thighs. She began to place a trail of kisses along the tanned skin as she worked her way upwards, allowing her taste buds to get used to the saltiness of the water.  
  
When she reached the hem of Riley's bikini bottoms, she paused and exhaled, sending a stream of warm air across the lycra covered skin that had cooled in the night air. Riley moaned softly and Letty dropped a knee onto a step as she purposely skipped the covered skin, continuing her advance up the center of her lover's chest.  
  
She paused again when she reached her full mounds, turning her head just enough so that her tongue could graze over a stiff bud. Riley moaned loudly and her head dropped back, allowing the smaller woman to make her way up the tender skin of her throat to her jaw.  
  
The younger woman's head turned, and their mouths met, tongues quickly sliding forward to stroke and curl around each other. When they parted for air Letty dropped to the centerline of Riley's chest, nibbling as she began working her way back down. This time when she reached her lover's breasts, she turned her head and her tongue began to trace circles around a hardened nipple.  
  
Riley moaned again and her breathing picked up, her body shifting in anxious anticipation of the feel of her lover's tongue on her skin. "Feels so good," she breathed, the warmth of the smaller woman's mouth causing her skin to turn to gooseflesh.  
  
After several minutes of tonguing and teasing the stiff nubs she continued her way down, pausing to run her tongue over the sensitive spot just below Riley's navel, smiling at the whimper it drew from the younger woman's chest.  
  
When Riley felt fingers curl themselves in the lycra of her bottoms she lifted her hips, shivering as she was completely exposed to the cool evening breeze. The smaller woman shifted, gently moving long limbs aside, and inwardly grinning when they locked around her, holding her in place. She slowly lapped at the swollen flesh, relishing the taste of her lover's honey on her tongue. When Letty's tongue made the most intimate contact of all, Riley's eyes rolled back and she tangled a hand in the older woman's hair, her body quivering and pulsing until it climaxed.  
  
They moved from the steps to the shower where Riley's hand again tangled itself in her lover's hair as her body orgasmed a second time before she pinned the smaller woman to the wall and felt hands in her own locks as she evened the odds.  
  
From the shower they moved to the large semi-outdoor daybed where curling fingers and well-placed thighs provided delicious friction that allowed them to to cum one right after the other, not once but twice. At last their bodies could take no more and they cuddled together both relaxed and wonderfully sated. "For the rest of this week I'm declaring this vacation clothing optional anytime we don't have to be around or interact with other people," Letty murmured, running her hands through Riley's hair, gently raking her nails over the scalp.  
  
"Mmm," Riley agreed. "And wherever whenever. Don't worry about what room it is, or what it's for. Just no public viewing."  
  
"Uh huh," Letty said. She gently untangled her hand from Riley's hair only to have the taller woman grab her wrist and put it back, making her chuckle. "And it's okay to tell the other they don't need to return the favor when you show them attention."  
  
"Mmm...hmm," Riley faintly vocalized, telling Letty she was nearly asleep.  
  
"C'mon, let's go to bed," the smaller woman whispered. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and the swung her legs over the side of the daybed.  
  
"Kay," came the drowsy response. Riley clumsily got to her feet and sleepily consented to be lead inside and put to bed.  
  


* * *

  
  
When Letty shifted mid-morning the next day and found herself alone in bed, she wasn't too worried, until she heard the sounds of violent retching coming from the bathroom. She quickly got out of bed and went to check on her partner.  
  
She waited until Riley sat up before she knelt next to her. "You okay?" She asked.  
  
Riley nodded. "Must've ate something last night that disagreed with me," she said.  
  
Letty straightened and grabbed the glass on the sink, filling it with water and handing it to the taller woman. "Rinse out. I'm gonna go arrange for a golf cart to run you up to the clinic," she said.  
  
Riley shook her head to protest. "It'll pass," she said.  
  
"I'm sure it will but there's no reason for you to be miserable all week til it does," Letty said. "No arguments."  
  
Before Riley could protest further Letty left the room. The taller woman sat back, giving herself a few minutes to make sure she wasn't about to purge again before getting to her feet and flushing the toilet.  
  
She padded into the bedroom just as Letty returned. "I spoke to Ms. Smart, and they actually want you to come to the clinic. They want her to look you over so that if she does diagnose you with food poisoning they can find out what you ate, to make sure they don't have an outbreak on their hands," she said.  
  
"Fine," Riley said grumpily.  
  
Twenty minutes later Riley was sitting on an exam table in one of the rooms at the clinic. There was a light knock on the door before it opened, and the resort's on-site nurse walked in. "So, you're my reluctant patient," she said.  
  
The woman had a motherly nature that seemed to put Riley at ease.  
  
"I get it. You're on holiday, you've got a stomachache, and the last thing you want is to be poked and prodded. Your partner relayed all your symptoms to Ms. Smart, who in turn relayed them to me, and I agree it sounds like a textbook case of mild food poisoning. What I want to do is draw some blood and evaluate it to see how elevated your white blood cell count is. That will confirm if you are indeed sick, and how bad," the nurse said. "Test takes about fifteen minutes to run, so once I've done the draw I'll get the test going, and then come back with any sort of meds you'll need to make you feel better."  
  
"Good, then maybe the worrywart will leave me alone," Riley quipped. Letty's face fell, and Riley knew she'd put her foot in it. The nurse stepped out of the room to gather the tools she'd need to draw blood, and the younger woman started damage control. "For what it's worth, I'm glad someone's here to worry about me."  
  
To her credit, Letty managed to keep hold of her temper. "Sorry I'm being so fussy," she said.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. You're doing this because you care about me. It’s been so long since that's happened I've forgotten what it feels like," Riley said. "Chalk my comment up to nerves."  
  
"Nerves?" Letty asked. "Don't like needles?"  
  
"I'm not afraid of them, but I could go my whole life without having to be poked and I'd be happy," Riley answered.  
  
"Me too," Letty replied. She got up from the chair and climbed up on the exam table, taking the taller woman's hand in her own.  
  
Another knock, and the nurse reappeared. She noticed that Letty had moved and had taken Riley's hand. "On a scale of one to ten how scared are you?" She asked.  
  
"A three at most. I'm not afraid, just not a fan of being poked," Riley answered.  
  
"Ahh, I see," the nurse said, tying the tourniquet around Riley's arm. She quickly opened the alcohol prep pad and wiped the inside of her elbow, then opened the needle. "So, lovebirds on a getaway, besties taking me time, coworkers taking a break, what brings you to our little slice of paradise?"  
  
"All three actually," Letty answered. "We started as coworkers, and then it just kinda went from there."  
  
"Well then, let me get my phials pulled so we can get you feeling better and enjoying your stay," the nurse said.  
  
Riley looked down and smiled when she saw the nurse pop one full phial off the needle and put on another one. She'd been so focused on Letty's answer that she'd completely missed the poke. The nurse took off the second phial, removed the needle, and dropped it into the sharps container that was in the caddy she'd brought in. She took a cotton ball and pressed it to the injection site, folding Riley's arm to put pressure on the site. "Keep that there for a few minutes," she said.  
  
She stripped off her gloves and trashed them, then put on fresh one's before she picked up the caddy. "I'll get these in, and be back as soon as I have your results," the nurse said before she left the room.  
  
Riley started to feel queasy again, and shifted so that she could lie over and put her head in Letty's lap. "What do you wanna do today?" She asked.  
  
"Depends on what your results are," Letty answered. "I'm pretty sure she'll give you something to make you stop puking, but it might make you sleepy."  
  
"You don't gotta stay cooped up inside with me all day if it does," Riley said in a tiny voice that made Letty smile. She sounded like a child who was trying to be selfless, but was hoping she'd get to be selfish and they'd stay cuddled together all day.  
  
"You let me worry about that," the smaller woman said.  
  
Fifteen minutes later Riley's nausea had quelled, and they both attributed it to her feeling poorly and then having her blood drawn. She'd returned to sitting upright, and Letty was back in the chair when the nurse came back with the results. "It's most definitely not food poisoning, nor any other sort of viral infection," she said.  
  
"So what is it then?" Riley asked.  
  
"Congratulations," the nurse said simply.  
  
The two women sat in stunned silence for a long moment, easily deciphering what the nurse meant. "She's pregnant?" Letty sputtered in disbelief.  
  
"Very much so. Your hCG levels make it quite clear that it's the culprit for the nausea and vomiting," the nurse said. She could tell that pregnancy was the last thing on either woman's mind, and decided to give them time to process the information. "Take a couple of minutes to let it sink in, and you're free to leave when you're ready."  
  
The nurse left the room and the two women sat staring at each other in silence. "Wow," Riley said. "That was definitely not what I was expecting."  
  
"Me either," Letty agreed. She thought a moment, considering her next words carefully. There was something they needed to investigate now that they'd been given this unexpected piece of information, and in her mind the clinic was the absolute best place to be for it. "How far along do you think you are?"  
  
Riley's brow furrowed, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. "What kind of bullshit question is that? You think I don't know who the father is?" She fumed.  
  
Before Letty could react Riley stood up and stormed out of the room. "Wait, that's not," the smaller woman began, but Riley never stopped walking. By the time Letty made it to the front door of the clinic Riley was long gone.  
  
She decided to go back to the villa, and provided the taller woman wasn't there she'd putter around a bit and give her a chance to cool off before she went looking for her. Then she'd explain how their activities the last couple of weeks hadn't exactly been pregnancy friendly, and they needed to let the nurse know so that she could arrange a trip to the hospital if she thought it was necessary.  
With a heavy sigh and a silent prayer that this wouldn't be what tore them apart so soon after finding each other, she set off down the boardwalk.

* * *

Riley headed to the small outdoor meeting area, and flopped down on one of the sofa benches. _What the hell was Letty thinking asking me that? Like there was some other dude that I was seeing at the same time._  
  
There'd been nobody, but Owen until Letty had come along so there was no possible way it was anyone else's baby. That terrified her. Owen was the epitome of heartless and cruel as far as Riley was concerned, and no child should have to know they shared DNA with him, especially her child.  
  
Then again, the child would only know that if she told them, and that wouldn't happen until they were at least eighteen. Plus, she'd always wanted kids. Granted, not like this, but now that she was here and the initial shock had worn off, she was beginning to not see this as a terrible thing.  
  
She wouldn't terminate it, nor would she give it up. As far as she was concerned, this was her baby, and that's all anyone needed to know. She hoped Letty would be okay with it because she didn't want to have to do this alone. But if she wasn't that was okay too, she'd figure something out, like she always did.  
  
Riley rolled onto her back and felt her body relax as she came to terms with her decision, and after everything that had gone on so far that day she promptly fell asleep.

* * *

  
  
At the villa, Letty hoped once Riley calmed down they could talk about how great this was that she was pregnant. She knew that Owen was the father but that didn't matter. As far as she was concerned this was their baby, and its conception was no different than using a sperm donor.  
  
When Riley still hadn't returned by half past three, Letty sighed and padded back through the house, picking up the receiver to the phone and punching the button to dial their butler. The line picked up and the voice on the other end spoke. "Good afternoon ma'am, what can I arrange for you today?" Ms. Smart asked.  
  
"I need to make arrangements to take the speedboat out to catch the last plane of the day," Letty said.  
  
"No problem, I can pick you up in five minutes if you are ready to go now," Ms. Smart replied.  
  
Letty sighed again. "I am."

* * *

  
  
The sun was low on the horizon when Riley woke from her extended nap. _Oh great, I've slept all day, and God knows where Letty is, or if she's even bothered to look for me._  
  
She sat up, stretched, and got to her feet. She headed towards their villa, hoping that this time they could talk about the baby without her jumping the gun.  
  
When she got to the villa, she wasn't initially worried that she didn't see the smaller woman. She entered the master bedroom and her heart fell through to her feet. Letty's luggage was gone. _No no no, please no!_ A quick bathroom check confirmed all of her toiletries were also missing. _Oh God no! Please don't be gone!_  
  
Riley forced herself to remain calm as she hurried into the front room and yanked the phone receiver out of the cradle, mashing the button for their butler. "Good evening ma'am what can I arrange for you tonight?" Ms. Smart asked.  
  
"Do you have any idea where my partner might be?" Riley asked.  
  
"Yes ma'am. She took the speedboat to catch the last seaplane out not long ago," the butler replied.  
  
Riley bit her cheek to keep her voice steady. "I see. Thank you," she said. She hung up the phone and numbly walked back through the house. She sat down on one of the sofas and stared at her hands as she tried to make sense of the second upheaval in her life in less than twelve hours.  
  
Letty was gone. In a way, Riley was glad it happened like this because it forced her to figure things out instead of wallowing in her feelings. With a baby on the way she couldn't just think about herself anymore. She needed to figure out a ton of tiny details for the long run, and the short. She decided to worry about the short term for now, and the long term could wait.  
  
For now, she'd go have some dinner and then come back and watch the sunset, then take a shower before calling the butler to arrange to leave at some point tomorrow. She'd figure out what she wanted to do eventually on the plane ride home, so that when she was back on terra ferma again she'd know exactly what her next step needed to be. She switched on a light in the bedroom, and then left the villa. "Okay, let's make a deal here," she said to her perfectly flat stomach. "You don't make me puke anymore, and I won't get mad when you start making me eat stuff that's weird."  
  
Giggling, she shook her head at her behavior, and headed for The Gathering.

* * *

  
  
A few hours later she sat in one of the chairs near the pool, occasionally taking pictures of the gorgeous sunset. While she was at dinner she'd contemplated staying for the remainder of the week and using the time to get everything in order, but it didn't feel right to be here alone. This place was meant for couples and families, not someone who got dumped and abandoned within hours of learning they were pregnant.  
  
She'd been doing some thinking about what she'd do when she got back to the states as she enjoyed the view. She'd sell the building in San Francisco and give up her apartment in LA, and just live at the house in Hawaii full time. Somewhere her child could swim in the ocean and play in the sand as much as they wanted.  
  
Her hand dropped to her abdomen again. "I can't wait to show you around the island. There's a lush rainforest where you're sure to find all kinds of bugs and snakes and lizards to make me crazy when you try to bring them in the house, and there's this freshwater waterfall that spills into a pool that's perfect to swim in. Your daddy gave me the island for my birthday last year. I think I'll tear down the house that's already there and build something that suits us," she explained.  
  
As twilight began to fall Riley allowed herself a few moments for her heart to hurt at the loss of the woman she'd hoped to spend the rest if her life with. She wished she could go back to this morning when they were at the clinic and give Letty the chance to explain herself. If she had, the smaller woman might still be here. But she couldn't reverse time, and this is where her life was now.  
  
She'd meant what she said about being okay if all they would ever be is friends, so she'd give things a couple of weeks for things to cool off and then try reaching out to the smaller woman.  
  
"Alright cutie, time for momma to take a shower and then go to bed. We've gotta be up early so we can go home," she said. She found she liked talking to her baby and telling it about what was going on as her day progressed. It made her feel connected to the baby on another level. She decided to do it whenever she felt like it, and not worry about what anyone thank.  
  
She pushed herself to her feet and padded over to the shower, turning on both jets. She adjusted the temperature to her liking and then stripped out of her wet suit. She tossed it in the trash, knowing it would be useless once she got home. She pulled a towel and washcloth from the cabinet and put them within easy reach.  
  
She stepped into the hot spray, knowing the power of the water would drown out her sobs and screams. "It's just you and me now kiddo, but we're gonna be okay, I promise," she said before she tucked her chin to her chest and finally allowed the tears to come.


	4. Right Here, Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley learns she's not gonna be a single parent after all, and she and Letty discuss all things baby, as well as plans for their future as they spend their final days at the resort.

With the water pounding in her ears Riley was in her own little world. She stepped back from the spray and grabbed her shampoo bottle, popping open the cap and turning the bottle upside down. "There you are, I was beginning to think I was gonna have to organize a search party," a voice said behind her.  
  
The bottle fell from her nerveless fingers and her heart started to pound. She turned and saw that Letty was standing just outside the shower tile. She silently padded over and raised shaking hands to smooth back the smaller woman's hair, looking into her eyes in disbelief. "What's wrong?" Letty asked. "I told Ms. Smart to tell you where I went. You didn't think I..."  
  
The words died on the smaller woman's tongue as she realized that's exactly what Riley thought. The younger woman placed a soft kiss on her lover's forehead and then rested her own against it, her shower seemingly forgotten. The tears started again, and hands cupped her face as Letty stepped back. "Did you eat?" She asked, thumbs removing errant tears as they snaked their way down Riley's face. She wanted to dwell as little as possible on Riley's fear, they'd been through enough crap today already.  
  
Riley nodded with a sniff, trying to stem the flow. "Good. Let me strip down and get in, then after we shower we'll curl up and finish the conversation we started this morning," Letty said. "Go pick up your shampoo before it all runs down the drain."  
  
Riley padded over and picked up the bottle, squirting some of it into her hand and closing the lid before putting the bottle on the shelf. She found comfort in her partner’s simple instructions as she worked the shampoo into her hair. They gave her something to focus on other than the fear and anxiety of suddenly raising her child alone. She stepped back under the spray and turned to rinse out the suds. This time when she stepped out from under the spray, she was aware of Letty stepping into the shower with an armload of products. "I forgot to move these to the shower when I unpacked this morning. Probably woulda saved you a lot of heartache," Letty explained.  
  
"Wait, you unpacked?" Riley asked.  
  
Letty smiled. "I told you last night I was going to because I hate living out of my suitcase. You were so sleepy you probably just didn't hear me. My empty suitcase is in the closet."  
  
Riley's cheeks went pink for a reason that had nothing to do with the water temperature as fragments of a conversation they’d had the night before suddenly returned to mind. She'd panicked when she'd realized Letty's suitcase was gone, and never gave thought to checking the drawers or the closet as a just in case. _Okay so pregnancy brain really is a thing. Or that’s what I'm blaming it on anyway.  
_  
They finished showering and changed for bed, padding into the master bedroom and curling up on the mattress. "So, getting back to what I said this morning, how far along do you think you are?" Letty asked. She could sense that Riley was about to blow up again and kept going before she had the chance to speak. "The reason I asked this morning is because you've done a lot of things the past couple of weeks that aren't exactly pregnancy friendly. Since you left without answering me I went ahead and asked the nurse just in case we needed to make a trip to the hospital."  
  
Riley found herself wishing she could take back the last several hours of her life. Letty's only thought had been about the baby's wellbeing when she'd asked what Riley had interpreted as a question about partners. "What did she say?" Riley asked.  
  
"That it was a good idea, just to be on the safe side," Letty answered.  
  
"I don't wanna spend another vacation day at the hospital," Riley protested. "We already lost this one to the clinic and being separated."  
  
"We spent the day separated because you lost your temper and didn't hear me out," Letty retorted.  
  
Riley could feel the anger building. " I lost my temper because it sounded like you were questioning how many other people I was sleeping with besides you," she hissed.  
  
Letty kept her mouth shut and didn't give into the urge she had to snap back at the taller woman. "Can we get past that before we wind up sleeping in different rooms?"  
  
Riley wanted to continue arguing, but she knew Letty was right. "Sorry," she mumbled.  
  
"Me too," the smaller woman agreed. "How many more times am I gonna have to tell you I want you regardless of how complicated things get, before you believe me?"   
  
"Sorry, I'm too used to depending on just me, myself, and I when the shit hits the fan." Riley replied.   
  
"This is our baby as far as I'm concerned. How it got here is no different than using a sperm donor," Letty said, putting a hand on Riley's still flat abdomen.   
  
"That's how I see it too," Riley agreed. "He or she doesn't need to be told who dad is until they're grown, if at all."  
  
"Uh huh," Letty said. "And anyone else is on a need to know basis."  
  
"So where'd you go all day while I sulked?" Riley asked.  
  
"You didn't sulk, you had your first encounter with pregnancy hormones," Letty corrected. " I spent the day with Ms. Smart putting together some surprises for you for tomorrow, and then I got her to arrange for me to go back out and meet the last seaplane for the day. I realized we didn't any shots of the resort from the air, and we came in on the last flight, so the pilot agreed to take me up for a couple of quick loops."  
  
"What kind of surprises?" Riley asked, her mood brightening considerably as she seized the opportunity to switch the conversation to something more lighthearted. Now that the two of them were on the same page about it not only being their baby, but where they stood on paternal issues, she didn’t want to dwell on what had happened today anymore.   
  
"The kind that I ran past the nurse to make sure were safe, and you have to wait til tomorrow to find out about," Letty answered, snickering at the exaggerated pout that appeared on the younger woman's face.   
  
She reached up to gently play with Riley's lower lip that had poked out. "Careful, if you stick it out any further you'll trip over it," she teased.  
  
Riley stuck her tongue out at the older woman, and chuckled. Letty quickly attempted to catch the wiggling muscle between two fingers, making Riley squeal. “Don’t stick that out at me unless you intend to use it,” the smaller woman teased.

The younger woman arched an eyebrow, and she gave Letty the smirk. "Seriously though, do you really think we need to go to the hospital tomorrow, or will we be fine until we get home?" She asked.  
  
"I know you don't like the idea, but I think we should be on the safe side," Letty answered. "The nurse said she'd make arrangements for us to get in at the non-emergency clinic and make sure we didn't have to sit all day. Plus, I think it would be kinda cool to get to see our little stowaway."  
  
Riley giggled at Letty's descriptor. "Stowaway, I love it," she said.  
  
"It's true, we didn't intentionally bring a baby on vacation with us," Letty said.   
  
"What time is it?" Riley asked seemingly out of the blue.  
  
Letty grabbed her cell phone and checked. "Just after nine, why?"  
  
"Our little stowaway wants ice cream," Riley answered. It wasn't entirely true, she did want ice cream, but she was certain the pregnancy was the reason she wanted to try some of the more unusual flavors they'd seen.  
  
"Then let's go get ice cream," Letty said, her tone indicating she didn't entirely buy that it was just the baby who wanted ice cream.  
  
Twenty minutes later they were both sitting outside the ice cream parlor, listening to the sounds of the ocean as they enjoyed their frozen treat. Letty had stuck to raspberry sorbet, but Riley had been a bit more adventurous, and chosen the Matcha Gelato. "Cravings started already huh?" Letty asked, smiling. "How is it?"  
  
"Really good actually," Riley answered. "I didn't think it would be because Matcha isn't known for its sweetness."  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes when a thought occurred to Letty. "You wanna do all the baby stuff now, or save it for the flight home?" She asked.  
  
"Baby stuff?" Riley countered.  
  
"Names, gender, where you wanna give birth, that kinda thing," Letty answered.  
  
"Oh, okay. I'm open to anything except feeding. I want our little stowaway to have the best of everything, and when it comes to feeding, that comes from me," Riley said. “And I’m going to use that as a baby descriptor in place of ‘it’ as much as possible, until things are far enough along that we can find out if we’re having a boy or a girl. It’s a human being not an inanimate object.”  
  
"No argument there," Letty replied. "I'm not getting on the gender wagon. I really don't care either way."  
  
"Me too. So long as our little stowaway is healthy, I'll be happy," Riley said. "And I definitely want more than one at this point. That may change after this one gets here."  
  
"I want at least two. Maybe next time around it'll be my turn to carry," Letty said. “I’d like to experience motherhood from that perspective too.”  
  
"That would be okay by me too," Riley agreed. "Can we agree on something else too?"  
  
"Maybe. What is it?" Letty asked.  
  
"This one was a surprise, but any siblings won't be. Can we agree that even though it sucks we won't ever be caught off guard again, it won't matter that this is our only oops baby?" Riley questioned.  
  
"We can agree that it sucks we'll have to plan for siblings, but we will not agree that the little stowaway is an oops," Letty replied.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that. This one isn't a mistake. I meant we don't possess the equipment to have another one any other way but planned and that's perfectly fine. It doesn't make them any less wanted or loved," Riley explained.  
  
"Gotcha," Letty said. “In that case, we can definitely agree that this is our only oops baby.”  
  
"Subject change. Been thinking. I know you haven't seen it, but I wanna tear down the house that already exists on the private island in Hawaii, and build one that suits us better," Riley said.   
  
Letty nearly choked on her ice cream. "It's on a private island?"  
  


She stared at the younger woman incredulously, and made up her mind at that moment that even if her memory did come back, whoever she was before could just suck it up and deal with the fact that this is who she was now. She was well on the way to living the life she dreamed of as a kid, and she’d do whatever it took to keep it.

  
Riley chuckled. "Oh yeah, has its own airstrip and everything. He actually gave it to me last year for my birthday, I just recently went ahead and had all the paperwork done up to make the ownership official," she said.  
  
"If it wouldn't be such a freaking headache to get anything there, I'd say let's live there full time," Letty said. “Somewhere we can make our own rules and live the way we want. What kind of changes?”  
  
"The changes I wanna make will make it more self-sustaining. There's a freshwater river that can be partially diverted for water, it gets enough constant sun to easily run the entire house on solar power, that sort of thing," Riley said.   
  
"Sounds good," Letty said.  
  
"That same river has a huge waterfall that runs into a pool that's perfect for swimming, and there's all manner of bugs and lizards for the little one to catch and try and sneak in the house," Riley said.  
  
"In other words the perfect place for an Urban area kid to get outside and be a kid," Letty replied. "Baby you don't have to sell me on it I'm already in."  
  
"I know," Riley said before letting out a massive yawn.  
  
"Speaking of being in, it's time for you to be in bed," Letty said, standing and collecting their trash.  
  
"I don't know why I'm so tired, it seems like all I've done all day is sleep," Riley weakly protested as she clumsily got to her feet.  
  
"Your body is busy making and nurturing a new life, it takes a lot of energy to do that," the smaller woman said as she threw away their garbage. She took the younger woman by the hand and they headed back to their villa.  
  
"If there's anything here you wanna try to make a reality at our own piece of paradise, let me know," Riley said softly a while later as they were cuddled together in bed a second time.   
  
"I'll make notes on my phone," Letty quipped.  
  
"I've already found something that's definitely going in the master bedroom," Riley said.  
  
"Which is?" Letty asked.  
  
Riley got out of bed long enough to flip a light switch on the wall, and Letty's mouth fell open as the roof directly above the bed retracted and revealed the night sky. "It's got a built in gage so if you fall asleep and it starts raining, it will automatically close," Riley said getting back in bed.  
  
"This is a definite, along with an outdoor bathroom," Letty said. "And a shower that's at least as big as the one here."  
  
Riley snickered. "Knew it."  
  


* * *

  
The next morning they sat in the waiting room of the hospital's non-emergency clinic, trying to patiently wait to be called back. It had been tricky to not touch each other and heed the nurse's warning. _It's a Muslim country, homosexuality of any kind carries a prison term. It's accepted at the resort, but not on the mainland._ She'd warned.  
  
They waited for what felt like an eternity to Riley, but her cell phone said it had only been ten minutes, when they were called back. "So, I see the nurse at Jani determined that you are pregnant, and you are here for a scan to see how big the child is and that mother and child are well is that correct?" The nurse asked, flipping through the paperwork.   
  
"That's correct," Riley said.  
  
"Alright then let me go get the machine and we'll look at your baby," the nurse said, leaving Riley's info on the table and leaving the room.  
  
"They're not as bad as the other nurse said, she didn't even ask why I came back with you." Letty said.   
  
"Because it's actually a customary practice with Muslims for a pregnant woman to be accompanied by another female family member. Men don't typically have much personal involvement past conception until after delivery. They participate in their wife's care from a distance," Riley replied.

“Oh, that’s right you were stationed in Cairo at one point,” Letty said. “Duh”  
  
The door opened again, and the nurse returned, pushing a large machine. " Go ahead and lie back and pull your shirt up," she said. "Before I get started, if you're further along than thought, and if I can tell, do you want to know the sex of your baby?"  
  
Both women nodded as Riley lay back on the exam table, curling her shirt in on itself and exposing her abdomen. The nurse squirted conductive gel on Riley's abdomen and then pressed the transmitter wand to her skin. They expected the nurse to take a few moments to find the baby, figuring she was looking for a tadpole. What appeared instead was the unmistakable profile of a baby. "You are much further along than the nurse predicted," the nurse said.  
  
"How much further?" Letty asked.  
  
"Judging by the measurements, you are in your third month," the nurse answered.  
  
Both women sat stunned as the nurse moved the wand around Riley's abdomen, looking at the baby from multiple angles. "Perfectly healthy," the nurse said, smiling when they both made sounds of protest once the baby disappeared while she checked the rest of Riley’s womb.  
  
Letty gave Riley a look, and the taller woman gave her a sympathetic one in response. Riley knew she'd gotten lucky that the baby hadn't gotten hurt during her recent activity, and despite knowing she hadn't realized she was pregnant; she was angry with herself for being reckless and stupid. The nurse had returned to where the baby was positioned so that it reappeared on the screen. She stared at the screen and made a silent vow. _Starting here and now, you come first, I promise._

"Your paperwork says you have a fairly active lifestyle, so that's why you aren't showing, and why you didn't realize your pregnant," the nurse explained. She took a measurement and then began chuckling. "I don't think your mom would appreciate you showing me that young man."  
  
"IT'S A BOY!" Letty shouted, instantly clamping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment at how loud she'd been. Riley and the nurse both laughed.  
  
"Sorry," the smaller woman uttered.  
  
"Nothing wrong with being happy," the nurse said. She turned off the machine and pulled out a packet of wet wipes and a series of stills from the ultrasound. She gave the stills to Letty and used the wipes to clean the gel from Riley's belly. "You are free to go, okay? Take care."  
  
The nurse left the room and Letty carefully folded up the stills before handing them to Riley. "Now that we know you're way further along than we thought, you better be ready for me to be on your butt about doing anything even slightly risky," she began.  
  
"Starting now, no more activities that aren't pregnancy friendly," she said. "And unless something is ridiculously simple, I promise to take your opinion about it into account."  
  
Letty's eyes narrowed, and she let out a frustrated sigh. "I've been preparing this speech since I left the clinic yesterday, so naturally you don't let me use it," she said. Her face softened, and she smiled as she deflated. "I promise to try and not go too overboard and treat you like you're made of glass."  
  
"Thank you," Riley said as she sat up and pulled her shirt down.  
  
"You're welcome," Letty said. "We've got a bit before the next plane will be in, how about we do some shopping between here and the terminal?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Riley answered, getting to her feet.  
  
"Just don't plan to do anything when we get back to the resort. I've lined up an afternoon of pampering before we go to dinner to celebrate," Letty said.   
  


* * *

  
  
Riley stood in front of the mirror in the guest room adjusting her outfit. She'd chosen to get dressed in the smaller bedroom to keep her outfit a surprise from the smaller woman.   
  
After spending the afternoon being pampered with a couple's massage followed by both a manicure and a pedicure, she'd wanted to wear something nice to dinner, and had picked up a pair of loose fitting white trousers at one of the shops on the mainland that made her outfit more appropriate to her surroundings.   
  
She'd gotten their butler to confirm that it was still appropriate for the resort's dress code, and after her reassurance she couldn't wait to see the look on her lover's face.   
  
Riley had based it off something Letty had said during one of their first text conversations. They had gotten onto the subject of clothing, and what kind of look they found attractive. _When girls do the thing where they wear open button ups but tuck them in so that you can see just enough cleavage so that their whole titty isn’t out, but you kinda wish it was_. Unfortunately Riley was too top heavy to pull off the look sans bra, but she had a feeling Letty wouldn't care.  
  
Happy with the way she looked she left the bedroom and walked out into the living room where Letty was already waiting. " Holy shit! It's a good thing we're both female," the smaller woman said, smiling appreciatively. "Because if we weren't and you weren't already pregnant, you would be before the night is over."   
  
Riley felt herself blush at the compliment and grew frustrated when her tongue seemed to glue itself to the roof of her mouth. "Thank you," she finally managed to splutter.  
  
"You're welcome," Letty said as she approached the younger woman. By an odd stroke of luck they had somehow managed to coordinate outfits, both had on white pants, and the color of Letty's top matched one of the stripes in Riley's button down. When Letty reached Riley, they gave each other a kiss, and the older woman found herself unable to resist the temptation of the younger woman's cleavage.   
  
She ducked her head, nibbling at the upper swells, making Riley mewl in response. When she hooked a finger in the material and moved it aside to lightly run her tongue over the nipple, the mewl turned into a moan. Riley felt her clit begin to throb, and she suddenly had the desire to skip dinner. Letty lifted her head, smirking when Riley nearly howled in frustration. "To be continued," she murmured.  
  
Hand in hand they walked to the jetty, and one quick speedboat ride later they arrived at the resort's secluded island where an intimate setting for two was waiting. They were seated at the table, and as soon as they were settled they were served their first course. "I talked with the chef and we came up with a pregnancy friendly menu that's upscale, but not too fancy," Letty said.   
  
They laughed and chatted their way through the meal, and as expected the subject of the baby found its way into the conversation. "I'm sure it's probably nothing, but you are okay that we're having a boy right? I mean, you didn't react at all at the clinic," Letty said. 

"I am absolutely okay with it being a boy. I didn't react at the clinic because I thought your reaction spoke volumes for both of us. I felt the exact same way you did, you just said it out loud," Riley replied. "I've been thinking, and this is the last time I want this bastard brought up unless it's an absolute necessity. I've been able to pinpoint when I got pregnant. Normally I insist on him wearing a condom as a backup for my birth control. We were drunk, it broke, and I decided to risk it anyway, thinking the birth control would take care of things."

"Wait, you're on birth control? Sweetheart we gotta tell the nurse, that could have definite consequences for the baby," Letty said. 

"Nah, not in this case. I had stopped taking it the month before I got pregnant, wanting to switch from the pill to the depo shot because it's more convienent due to my job. I never found time to actually get the shot, and if I'm honest, I half expected I was pregnant when I started throwing up randomly in the morning, so I decided to skip the shot until I could find out if I was or not, and then get it if I decided to terminate the pregnancy," Riley explained. 

Relief washed over Letty, and she was happy things had worked out for them the way they did. She wouldn't have held it against the younger woman had she decided to have an abortion, but she wouldn't have wanted her to go through that alone. 

"So, baby names," Riley said as they finished their palate cleanser in preparation for the main course. "How about Dominic Grayson Maverick Hicks, and since we've gotten lucky that our recent activity hasn't caused him any harm, we'll call him Lucky?" Riley suggested.  
  
"Take Dominic out and it's perfect. I know what you're up to there, and I love the idea, but for some reason the thought of having a namesake makes him super uncomfortable," Letty said. "And I love the thought of calling him Lucky."  
  
"Think he could manage being a godfather?" Riley asked as they were served their main course. “Hobbs has feelings against both, doesn’t wanna wind up being a disappointment.”   
  
"Absolutely, he'll be all over it," Letty replied. “I think that’s what Dom’s issue is with being a namesake. He doesn’t want the kid to be treated differently once it’s known who he’s named after. The godfather thing will be more up his alley. To him that means he gets to function as a father figure when he can, but not necessarily all the time. Less pressure about disappointing the kid.”

“That’s perfect. I want him to have a male figure in his life that he can bond with. Someone he can talk to about subjects he’s uncomfortable talking about with us,” Riley said.

“Dom can handle that,” the smaller woman said. “Anything you wanna do after this, or are we good to go home for the night?”

“We’re good,” Riley answered. _I’m struggling to keep my hands to myself at this point._

“Home it is then,” Letty agreed. _To hopefully pick up where we left off before dinner._

  
  
An hour and a half later they had returned to their villa and were discussing plans for the following day. "How about we eat here tomorrow?" Letty asked loudly so that Riley could hear her in the bathroom. "Ms Smart can set it up for us."  
  
"Sounds good. Can we just kinda spend tomorrow snuggling and playing?" Riley questioned as she returned to the TV room.   
  
"Absolutely," Letty agreed from her spot on the sofa as she scrolled through their entertainment choices on the TV. When she looked up her jaw went slack as she noticed that Riley had removed her bra and she was now dressed exactly the way Letty had described during their conversation. Her mouth watered at the sight of the soft, ample flesh on display. The taller woman sat down on the sofa, and Letty wasted no time crawling over, where their lips met. "I want to worship the mother of my child."  
  
Riley nodded, watching the smaller woman with lidded eyes. Worshipping was the term they used to indicate that they wanted to exist solely for their partner's pleasure. Their lips met again and Letty straddled her lover’s liap, sliding her hands down to grab Riley's shirt and gently pull on the fabric, untucking it just enough to push it back so that the taller woman's torso was exposed.  
  
When they parted she slipped off her lover's lap and began working her way down until she could cup her hand around soft flesh and use her tongue to trace circles around a stiff nub. Riley hissed as her pregnancy had made her more sensitive to stimuli, which heightened the sensation.  
  
Letty slowly worked her way back up, but shifted to one side so that she was sitting next to the younger woman. Their mouths met once again, tongues sliding forward to dance, and she slid her hand beneath the waistband of Riley's trousers, seeking and manipulating the cotton covered flesh.   
  
Riley broke the kiss with a moan, grabbing the smaller woman's wrist and turning it so that she was being touched in just the right way in just the right spot. "Feels so good, don't stop," Riley breathed when they parted for air.  
  
She whimpered slightly when Letty pulled her fingers away, but the whimper was quickly replaced by a moan when those same fingers slipped beneath cotton to stroke bare skin. Another whimper, and one set of dark eyes met another in the low light of the room. "Suck my clit," she begged. "I want your mouth on me so bad."  
  
Letty trapped the bundle of nerves in question between two fingers, giving them a light pinch and getting rewarded with a loud moan. She completely withdrew her hand and made a show of sucking her lover's essence from her fingers before she stood, offering her the other hand. "Bedroom, not nearly enough room in here to play."  
  


  
  
Riley covered herself with her hand, their signal that they were done, and Letty's kisses changed from sensual to comforting, her favorite way to convey the mood had changed. As she ran a gentle hand over the taller woman's abdomen, an unfamiliar swelling caught her attention. Barely discernible unless you knew the younger woman's physique the way she did, Letty knew it hadn't been there the week before, so it only had one possible explanation. _The baby_. Smiling she gave it a soft kiss. "Give me your hand a minute baby," she murmured.  
  
Riley reached down, and Letty gently guided her hand over the same spot. She smiled as she watched the younger woman's face light up in wondrous joy. "Please tell me that's what I think it is," she said.   
  
"It's what you think it is," Letty replied. She watched as tentative fingers curiously explored the new little lump as Riley discovered the size and shape of the external proof of their tiny baby, nestled in her womb.  
  
"I haven't noticed anything when I've been getting dressed though," Riley said. "I'm still as flat as always."  
  
"Could be the way your laying, or he may have even shifted around because of the ultrasound and he's moved to where he's noticeable," Letty said, turning her attention back to the tiny bump, affectionately stroking the length of it with the tips of her fingers. "Hey little man."  
  
"Wish I could see it," Riley said, and Letty could hear the note of disappointment in her voice. She gave the spot a fond kiss and then without explanation, got off the bed and hurried out of the room. Riley's eyebrows knit, but before she could begin to question, Letty had already returned with their phones.  
  
The smaller woman crawled back onto the bed and handed Riley her phone. "Unlock it for me please," she said.  
  
Riley unlocked her phone and then handed it back. Letty took the younger woman's phone and activated the flashlight, carefully holding it with one hand and used the other to manipulate her own phone to take a photo. Riley watched hopefully, but when Letty's shoulder's fell after the shutter clicked, she realized the shot didn't take. "Hey, it's not that big a deal. I mean he lives with me, so it's not like I don't know he's there," she said.  
  
"Yeah but you should still get to see what he looks like from the outside," Letty replied, turning off the flashlight and giving the younger woman her phone back.  
  
Riley took it and laid it on her chest, where it vibrated a moment later. She picked it up, and because she'd set it to automatically open texts from Letty, she saw a picture on her screen. He face lit up as she realized the picture had gone through, and Lucky had caused a small rounding to appear, that to the unknowing eye made her look as if she'd overindulged at her last meal. "Oh my god there he is!" She exclaimed.   
  
Letty started to move up so that their heads were next to each other, but Riley stopped her. "Wait, let's do one more," she said, turning her flashlight on again, and holding her phone aloft with her right hand. "A little help please."   
  
Letty moved the light, so the baby was illuminated, and Riley slid her left hand around to rest on her abdomen just below the lump. "Do the same thing with your right hand, and the take the shot with your left," she quietly instructed.  
  
The older woman put her right hand on her lover's abdomen, and Riley inched her hand forward so their fingers were intertwined. Letty took the shot and held her phone up so Riley could see the image. "Perfect," the younger woman said.   
  
Letty sent her the image and then took a better look at it, smiling at what she saw. It looked like she and Riley were providing a cradle with their hands for the lump to rest in. She crawled up beside the taller woman so their heads were next to each other, and watched as Riley turned the two images into her wallpaper and lock screen.   
  
She did the same, using the hand image as her wallpaper, but kept one of the selfies they took that first night at Starbucks as her lock screen. "God I can't wait for him to get here," she murmured.  
  
"Me too," Riley replied, yawning. She pressed her chin to her chest. "And I will be grateful when you stop making me sleep like a teenage boy who stays up too late and plays too much X-Box."  
  
Letty smiled as she watched Riley's eyelids get heavy. "So, between the two of us we wore you out," she teased softly. “See, takes after me already.”  
  
"I'd really rather he waits til he got here to do that," the younger woman murmured, yawning again. Letty smiled as Riley gave a faint chuckle, her eyes sliding shut as sleep at last pulled her under.  
  
Letty shifted so that she could curl a hand over the little mound, closing her eyes and allowing her mind to wander over all things baby related until sleep came calling for her too.  
  


* * *

The following evening they were snuggled together in the TV room, watching the remake of Gone in Sixty Seconds after an enjoyable final meal on the island, a multi course experience that had been served in the viewing nook in their villa, the highest point at the resort.  
  
They had spent their last day at the resort doing all the little experiences that interested them, making sure to leave in plenty of opportunities for Riley to return to the villa and nap, the lack of energy driving the normally active younger woman nuts. Their favorite moment of the day had been the tour of the herb garden and getting to plant a tree in their son's name.   
  
While they watched the movie, Letty had a hand curled protectively over the tiny swell in Riley's abdomen she'd noticed the night before, having fallen in love with the first outward sign that the taller woman was indeed pregnant with their first child.   
  
Now that there was visible proof that they had a little one on the way Letty knew she was gonna have difficulty keeping her hands off Riley's abdomen. Fortunately, it didn't appear that the taller woman minded. The credits began to roll, and both women stretched and wiggled, shifting limbs and muscles that had been stationary for the past two hours. "Sucks that we're going home tomorrow," Letty said. "Did you get to do everything you wanted to do while were here?"  
  
Riley slowly sat up. "Actually, there is one thing that I haven't done," she said. Without a word she got to her feet and disappeared. Letty sat confused for a long moment, and when she realized the taller woman wasn't coming back, she got up and curiously followed.  
  
She moved through the house, passing by the master bedroom she noticed that the door to the bathroom was open, and knew she had at least discovered where Riley had gone. When she crossed to the bathroom there was a trail of clothing from the doorway to the steps that lead to the lagoon. Grinning, Letty began stripping down, somehow knowing that the younger woman hadn't changed into her bikini bottoms.   
  
She walked down the steps to the bottom one and then dove into the water, confident Riley was still in their secluded part of the lagoon. When she surfaced an arm wrapped around her waist and the words 'my turn' ghosted past her ear. Letty turned in Riley's arms and their mouths met as the taller woman backed towards the steps, sitting on the second up from the bottom.   
  
Riley guided the smaller woman so that she was straddling her thigh, putting direct pressure in all the right spots. Letty's hips began to rock, and her breathing changed. A faint hum reached her ears, but before her mind had time to get distracted trying to locate it, something that vibrated brushed against her clit. She moaned loudly, her hips instantly trying to move further forward to increase the sensation. A brush against some sort of waterproof material told her that it was one of the adult toys they had been looking at online during the flight to the resort that included a band that could be worn or attached to something for hands free play.  
  
Letty whimpered in frustration, making Riley smile. "What's wrong?" She asked feigning innocent confusion.  
  
The smaller woman was too aroused to offer a witty comeback to the not so innocent tone. "Please baby," she begged, every fiber of her being willing to do whatever it took to get her lover to give her what she wanted. "Please."  
  
"Lift," Riley breathed into a kiss, using her free hand to gently press against the older woman's abdomen. Letty obediently lifted her hips and felt Riley move but couldn't quite figure out what she was doing. When she resettled she ripped her mouth away from the younger woman's. "OH GOD YES!" She cried out.  
  
Riley had shifted the toy so that its entire shape neatly slipped between Letty's swollen lips so that it directly pressed on her clit. Her hips resumed rocking and Riley ducked her head, roughly sucking a nipple into her mouth. Letty inhaled sharply and exhaled raggedly. She knew from conversations with her brother's girlfriends that pregnancy made you horny in the first trimester, and she wasn't going to pass up the experience of her normally passive lover taking a dominant position.  
  
Her head dropped back and her hands rose to tangle in chestnut locks as Riley left a trail of red and purple bruises in places no one but the two of them would see. "Feels so good baby," she panted into her lover's ear. "Don't stop."  
  
When the younger woman's hands clamped down on her hips and pressed her against the toy, grinding her hips in a circle, her eyes squeezed shut as she climaxed hard. "FUCK!" She cried out.   
  
Riley lifted her head and gently lifted her lover off the new toy, smiling as she felt the tremble running through the smaller woman's body, and arms wrapped themselves around her neck. "Don't stop," Letty whimpered.  
  
Riley chuckled, curling her own arms around the older woman's waist, and resting their foreheads together. "Trust me baby, after the ride I got last night, I'm just getting started."  
  


After a quick rinse to wash off all the salt water, Riley had asked Letty to meet her in the smaller bedroom on the premise of another surprise. Letty had pulled the blankets back and was on all fours on the bed. She was in the process of stacking the pillows out of the way when she felt the bed jostle. She straightened to her knees and felt Riley spoon up behind her. Hands on her hips brought their bodies flush, and the older woman moaned softly as a stiff appendage slid against her throbbing slit. "Doublemint?" Letty breathed.  
  
"Mmmhmm," Riley replied.  
  
Doublemint was the nickname they had given to a strapless, double ended vibrator that they had both fallen in love with because it meant they could both be pleasured by it at the same time. A slight thumping noise told her that the younger woman had put her cell phone on the nightstand, meaning she was taking advantage of one of the toys preset cycles so they could both concentrate on enjoying themselves.  
  
Riley's hips began to rock, and Letty moaned again, her own hips moving in counterrhythm. Riley's hands began squeezing soft flesh, fingers pinching and rolling stiff buds. "I love feeling you get hard for me," Letty panted.   
  
"Only for you," the taller woman said. She positioned the head of the toy at her lover's entrance, and Letty sank back onto it just as it advanced to the next speed in the cycle. Both women moaned as their hips continued to rock against each other.  
  
Riley cast a glance at the leaner mirror in the corner just in time to see Letty slide a hand down the front of her own body and begin rubbing her clit in rhythm with the toy. This was the entire reason Riley had picked this room. "I love watching you touch yourself baby," she husked in the smaller woman's ear.  
  
Letty smiled when she spotted the mirror directly opposite the bed. "I love when you watch me," she murmured. "Can we get one of those for the bedroom at home?"  
  
Riley smiled at hearing Letty refer to the younger woman's LA apartment as their home. "Already have one," she said.  
  
"Awesome," Letty said. She was cut off from saying more when the cycle sped up again, making them both moan.  
  
"No more talking," Riley growled low in her throat. They paused their conversation and concentrated on enjoying the toy, and the sensations it created.

Hours later they were back in the master suite, snuggled up in bed, Letty's head rested against Riley's shoulder, the younger woman lightly stroking her lover's bare back. "I was thinking. Since you have a week's worth of clothes why don't we spend a week kinda recovering from the jet lag, and then get you moved in with me next weekend?" She asked.  
  
"I wanna say yes, but I wanna say no too," Letty replied. "I wanna give us a few days to readjust to LA time, but I wanna hurry up and get moved in so we can get on with our lives."  
  
"We'll have stuff to do that involves moving you in before we get your stuff. Do you have furniture to move or no?" Riley questioned.  
  
Letty thought a minute about everything she had at Dom's place and how much of it she wanted to take with her. "Just clothes, pictures, and small personal stuff," she answered.  
  
"Then after we get home we gotta go grocery shopping and IKEA to get you a dresser, and a nightstand," Riley said.   
  
"Oooh, be careful, I'm dangerous in that place," Letty teased. "Made the mistake of looking for something for Dom and got stuck on the website for like two hours.  
  
Riley chuckled. "I'm just as bad. I thought it would be our go to for the new place in San Francisco," she said. She bit her lip and carefully considered her next words, hoping the older woman wouldn't be too angry for what she was about to say. "Speaking of, the property I gave myself isn't exactly any sort of house or anything close to one. I picked it because it has the potential to be."  
  
"Not an instant dealbreaker, what is it?" Letty asked.  
  
"A very well-built building just off Pier 39. The top two floors have killer views of the water," Riley answered.  
  
"So a bare bones building that lets us build a custom two story loft apartment, and we can do whatever we want with the lower floors. Sounds perfect for us. I just have one requirement," Letty replied.  
  
"Which is?" Came Riley's next question.   
  
"If at all possible, I want it to be finished and us in it before the baby comes," the smaller woman replied.   
  
"Considering it needs no repairs, has already been rezoned to be residential, and all of the utilities have been installed and turned on, I'd say the only thing that will make that impossible is us, or if he decides to come early," Riley said.  
  
"Good," Letty said. Her hand drifted down to cover the little lump and she stroked the skin. She spent a moment imagining the two of them in the new place curled up in bed, with her lying next to the taller woman. Lucky was lying on Riley's chest, tummy full of milk, and Letty was rubbing his back as he drifted to sleep. She could almost hear the tiny grunts and coos of contentment.  
  
"Where'd you go?" Riley murmured, pulling the smaller woman from her daydream.  
  
"San Francisco, months from now. Only I'm rubbing his back instead of your belly," Letty whispered. "He's full, and warm, and oh so sleepy; making all these cute little sounds as he drifts to sleep listening to his momma's heartbeat, with his mommy's hand on his back."  
  
A sniffle reached the smaller woman's ears, and she smiled as she reminded herself of how emotional the next couple of months were gonna be until the baby stopped wreaking havoc with the younger woman's hormones.  
  
Riley roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, frustrated at the lack of control over her emotions. But she could picture the smaller woman's description so vividly, and it was so perfect she wanted him to hurry up and get here so that she could experience it sooner.   
  
She was suddenly impatient about everything. She wanted the new house to be done now so they could start their lives in a home that was truly theirs. She wanted the baby, their baby, to be here now so they could see him, and hold him, and kiss his tiny face. She wanted the two of them to take the next step in their relationship, despite only having been a couple for a little less than a month. Time was all they had to worry about anymore and she felt like there was too much of it. "Stop thinking so hard," Letty's voice said softly, cutting into her thoughts.   
  
"I'm not," Riley said, despite knowing she actually was.  
  
"Yes you are," Letty insisted. She reached up to gently touch the taller woman's face, just above the bridge of her nose. "You get this adorable little furrow right here when you do."  
  
Riley reached up and took her partner's hand in her own, bringing it down to gently kiss those same fingers. When she started to nibble at them Letty pulled her hand away, smiling at the second exaggerated pout she'd seen appear on her lover's face since they'd arrived. "It's not that I don't want to baby, but we scheduled our flight out for early tomorrow remember?" She asked.  
  
Riley sighed, wanting nothing more at that moment but to make slow, sweet love to the older woman, but again knew her partner was right. "I know, the sooner we fly out, the sooner we get home," she said.   
  
"Actually, I was thinking that if we slept more now we'd have more time to play on the plane," Letty replied.   
  
"I like your reason a whole lot better," Riley said. Her tone changed again, and it sounded adorably apologetic. "Sorry I can't seem to keep my hands to myself all of a sudden."  
  
"It's okay, I know my little spoon can't help it," Letty said. Riley's eyes took on a hopeful look, and Letty nodded. She bit her tongue to keep from laughing as the younger woman reached out to cut off the lights before they curled their bodies into a position that was comforting and deliciously familiar.   
  
This time their hands met, and fingers tangled to cradle their unborn son, and Riley smiled in the darkness as a kiss was pressed to the back of her shoulder before she drifted into peace.


	5. Baby Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Letty and Riley settle into domestic life while they anxiously await the birth of their son. They take a business trip to Tokyo and get much much more than they bargained for.

"You have the list of stuff that's non-negotiable on your phone right?" Riley asked as they pulled into a spot at the midwife's office.

"Yes baby, for the birth plan, and for the new apartment," Letty replied.

They had discussed the beginnings of their birth plan while on their flight home and had quickly agreed that they wanted their son to be born at home, so that they had the most control over the situation. After telling Mae that Riley was pregnant, and enduring the older woman's crushing hugs, she had told them to give Birth Your Way a call. Her daughter in law worked there as a nurse, and upon learning that Mae had referenced them, they were immediately given a slot.

Today they were coming to not only get things rolling for their birth plan, but to also make sure Riley was okay to take one more long-distance flight to Tokyo before the baby was born.

"I hope Sawyer is okay with us just having the basics. I still don't know what I want to do for part of it," Riley said, shutting off the car.

"It's fine baby, don't get yourself worked up over it. She said we just needed to get started on it by today, not have it figured out to the last detail," Letty said as they unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car.

They walked through the parking lot hand in hand, Letty giving Riley's fingers a reassuring squeeze. They got signed in and were instantly shown to an exam room where Riley continued into the bathroom and took care of the necessary urine specimen. After washing her hands she returned to the exam room and settled on the table.

Letty smiled when she sat down. Although she still didn't look quite as far along as she was, there was now no denying that Riley was pregnant. Her abdomen had a curve to it, and there was a layer of softness as hardpacked muscle began to make room for their son. They had already begun a morning ritual where Letty rubbed oil into her partner's skin to help it stay supple and hopefully prevent stretchmarks.

Her phone chimed, and when she looked it was a notification. "Everything okay?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, Amazon's just letting me know the stuff I picked out for Gray has arrived," Letty answered.

After coming home and doing some thinking, they both came to realize just how popular Lucky had become as a name for boys and promptly dropped it, choosing to call him by a shorter version of his first name instead. "I thought we agreed to not buy anything until after the move," Riley said, fixing her partner with a look.

Letty ignored it, opening the app, and pulling up the order before moving to sit next to the taller woman. "I didn't go overboard," she said, handing over her phone. "Everything I picked was stuff we'd need in the unlikely event that we don't get to move before he gets here, and it would be a pain in the ass to make do without."

Riley took the phone and scrolled through the order, wondering what on earth the smaller woman thought they couldn't make do without. "A co-sleeper, a nursing pillow, nursing camisoles, and lose fitting cotton sleep pants," she said. It was all stuff to make it easier for her to take care of Gray. She felt extremely sheepish. "Sorry."

"It's okay, I know I've been driving you nuts here lately with all the stuff I keep finding. I've also got plans to pick up the stuff to make what my nephews' mom called padcicles," the smaller woman said. "She swore they helped her heal quicker."

Riley chuckled. "Read about those, and wanted to pick up stuff myself," she said. "As for your Amazon order, you're right. It is all stuff that would be a pain to do without."

"I promise, I'm limiting myself to the back of the Range Rover. Everything has to fit there," Letty replied.

They shared a kiss, missing the knock on the door before it opened. "Hey! No making siblings til after the first one gets here," the midwife teased as she entered the room.

"Sorry Sawyer," Letty said, getting up to go back to her chair, but changing her mind when a second person entered the room. They had been through enough already, and when it came to Riley and the baby she couldn't shake the urge to keep her guard up.

"No big deal, by the way this is Nevaeh, she's studying to be a midwife with the hopes of opening her own clinic," Sawyer said. Nevaeh waved but, kept herself next to the wall to observe from a distance, not wanting to interfere too much.

"So, we're checking to make sure you and the little man are okay to handle one more long-distance flight, right?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah, we've gotta meet with our contractor today about the loft, and then after watching several videos and a couple of phone calls, we've come up with the idea to turn the lower floors of the building into a capsule hotel," Riley explained. "We're hoping you'll green light a trip to Tokyo so we can check some of them out for ourselves."

"Those are so cool," Nevaeh said from the wall. "I've always wanted to stay in one."

The other three women smiled. "They're planning to build in San Francisco, at Pier 39," Sawyer said as she took Riley's pulse.

"No shortage of guests then," Nevaeh said. "Are you planning to include a nap rate?"

Letty chuckled at the younger girl's enthusiasm. "Not sure yet it depends on the demand," she said.

"Pulse and heart rate for mom are fine, lie back and let me check on your little one, and we'll see if you're Tokyo bound or not," Sawyer said. She turned to address Nevaeh. "She's already provided a urine sample, should be on the tray in the bathroom. Can you get it and go get the culture started?"

"Yes ma'am," the younger woman said, a bit hesitantly. She crossed to the bathroom, only to stick her head out again moments later. "New favorite momma! Thank you!"

Sawyer chuckled. "She's had patients all morning who apparently have never peed in cups before," she explained to the two women. "You're the first one she's had that hasn't peed all over the cup and not wiped it off, or not put the lid on when you're done."

Riley and Letty both laughed. "Poor thing, I'd be hesitant too," Letty said.

Sawyer pulled out the heart monitor and placed the wand on Riley's belly, guiding it back and forth until Gray's heartbeat came through the speaker as a rhythmic woosh. The couple shared a look and Riley rolled her eyes as Letty pulled her phone out of her pocket with a mischievous grin. "Nice and regular," the midwife said. "We'll do a quick ultrasound just to make sure, but I haven't noticed anything that would make me say no to you going to Tokyo."

Riley smiled. "This the only long-distance flight we have planned until after he gets here. Once we get home, the only other flight I'll be on is when we move to San Francisco," she said. "I don't wanna be cooped up in a car at that point."

"I wouldn't recommend it anyway. You are fortunate enough to have the means to make alternate arrangements, and a forty-five-minute flight is better for you than a six hour car ride at that stage in your pregnancy," Sawyer replied. "So you guys put off going to Hawaii then?"

"Yeah, for now anyway. We don't have plans to start remodeling until he's at least a year old, so we have plenty of time to visit the existing house after he's born," Letty added.

The midwife pulled the ultrasound machine away from the wall and turned the screen on before picking up the bottle of gel and squirting a generous amount on Riley's abdomen. Letty stood and moved to see the screen. Sawyer moved the wand back and forth in gentle passes until she located Gray again, chuckling when she found him. "If there was any doubt on whether or not it’s a boy, there shouldn't be now," she said pointing at the screen.

The two women looked where she was pointing and cracked up laughing at the now obvious genetalia. Sawyer took some quick measurements and told the machine to take a new set of stills for the couple. Once they were printed, she handed them over and put the wand back in its holder. "You are one hundred percent cleared to visit Tokyo," she said. She opened a canister and pulled out some baby wipes, cleaning the conductive gel off Riley's skin. "Hope it's a productive trip."

"What about the birth plan?" Letty asked.

Sawyer smiled. "Do you have any questions about what you wanna do at this point?" She countered.

"No," Riley answered.

"Then there's nothing to discuss," Sawyer replied. "I asked you to at least have the basic idea in mind by now so that we could go over any initial questions. You won't need to have one finalized until your eighth month."

Letty knew Riley would be relieved. All they had managed to agree on so far was that they wanted Gray delivered by a midwife, and they wanted him to be born at home.

"You're all set, and I'll see you girls in eight weeks for your next major appointment," Sawyer said.

"Thanks," Riley said.

* * *

Two hours later they were standing in what would soon be their son's nursery in their new home. They had met with their contractor Jae to see the progress. He had taken them for a guided look around, and they were pleased that everything was coming along according to most of their wishes.

They hadn't been able to get a permit for the retractable roof, but the contractor had made up for it by coming up with several sneaky little add-ons. The kitchen and living room were an open floor plan, and there was a refrigerated drawer in the kitchen island that would be perfect to house snacks in when Gray and any future siblings were older. There was a small balcony just off the master suite, and one wall of the master bedroom offered floor to ceiling windows that were privacy smartglass which would go from transparent to opaque at the flip of a switch.

The shower in the master bathroom was bigger than the one had been at their villa and had a built in bench. The nursery was designed so that it could later be converted into a bonus room attached to the master suite, and at the top of the stairs that lead from the first floor there was a landing, steps to the left lead to what would be the kid's rooms, and the master suite was to the right.

Just before he left Jae had told them that they were less than a week from turning the apartment over to the decorating team, who had already promised a two-week timeline. "Two and a half weeks to go, and then we're coming home," Letty said, wrapping an arm around Riley's waist, and putting her free hand on her baby bump. "Can't wait."

"Me too," Riley agreed. Before either woman could speak, there was a movement under Letty's hand. Her eyes lit up, and they shared a fond look before their gazes dropped to Riley's abdomen. There was a slight expectant pause as they waited, and after a moment or two Gray moved again.

Riley couldn't get over the excitement on the smaller woman's face, Letty completely charmed at feeling their son move for the first time. "Him three," the younger woman said.

Letty bent at the waist and gently put a cheek against Riley's belly, moments later when Gray moved she went flying back a few steps, cupping her cheek with a mock scowl, pretending to have been punched in the jaw. Riley chuckled and Letty wrapped her arms around her partner's waist. They shared a kiss, enjoying a quiet moment.

"Ready to head to the airport?" Riley murmured.

"Mmmhmm," the smaller woman agreed. "With sixteen hours ahead of us we can work on the birth plan a bit and catch up on some sleep."

Riley chuckled. This was the first trans atlantic flight on their own jet. There was no way she was passing it up. "Wanna bet?"

* * *

After getting to their hotel and getting checked in, the couple set off on a ten minute walk towards the first of several capsule hotels they had planned to visit, where they would meet a translator and a representative of the hotel chain.

"I hope we get the chance to do some shopping while we're here. I would love to pick up some stuff for our little man," Letty said.

Before Riley could respond there was a high-pitched scream that put her senses on high alert, and she was slammed into by someone or something. She looked down to find a shaking ten-year-old girl clinging to her desperately. "Help me, please!" She cried. "He's not my dad!"

They could tell from her accent that she was an American, and the man that was chasing her was a completely different nationality. "I her stepdad," the man said in broken English.

The girl hid her face against Riley's side, telling her the man was lying. Fortunately, all the commotion had caused a stir, and several police officers had come running. The man tried to escape, but several officers seemed to recognize him, and they cuffed him and put him in the back of a car.

When the officers realized the women were American, one of them quickly went to their car, coming back with a tablet. He spoke, and then pressed a spot on the screen, and a voice came out of the tablet.

**This app can only do a basic translation. I have notified an officer who speaks English who will be here shortly. I apologize for making you wait. Please try to tell us what's going on.**

The officer handed Riley the tablet, and she pressed the button to push to record what she said. "The little girl ran into me, begging for help and telling me he's not her dad," she said.

She gave the tablet back and the officer pressed the button, translating her English into Japanese. While she worked with the officer to figure out what was going on, Letty focused her attention on the girl who still had her arms firmly wrapped around Riley's waist, her head resting against the taller woman's abdomen. She couldn't help but smile as she watched Riley gently stroke the girl's hair.

The hormones from her pregnancy had kicked her maternal instinct into overdrive and she was treating the girl as if she was her own flesh and blood. A non-descript car arrived, and a man got out. He was immediately addressed by one of the uniformed officers, and Letty realized he was likely a detective. While he was talking to them another detective, this one female, got out of the car.

After a couple of minutes, the man addressed the two women, initially focusing on the young girl. "Hello, I'm Detective Ito and this is Detective Abe," the man said. "Why don't you go with Detective Abe and get in my car, okay? You're safe now, I promise, and we're gonna get you home."

The female detective held out her hand and the girl reluctantly let go of Riley, taking the detective's hand and allowing her to lead her to the car. Once she was safely out of earshot Ito went into detail about what was really going on. "The gentleman in the back of the marked car is a known mule for a child sex trafficking ring. I do not yet know the details of how or when she was brought here, but I promise we're gonna get her home," he said.

He took his wallet out of his pocket, opened it, and produced a business card. "This is my number. Please feel free to call or text me later this evening if you have any questions."

Riley took it and pocketed it. "Riley Hicks. Retired DSS, and thank you," she said. She turned to Letty. "We're gonna have to hustle to make our appointment."

"Appointment? Where?" Ito asked.

"Capsule hotel about two blocks from here," Letty answered. "We're looking into bringing the concept into the States."

Ito turned and spoke to one of the uniformed officers for a moment, and then turned back to the two women. " Officer Watanabe will drive you and will apologize on our behalf so that your contact does not think you do not care that he's being held up waiting for you," he said.

Riley nodded, knowing the Japanese were the polar opposites of Americans when it came to politeness and punctuality. The officer in question opened one of the doors of his car and gestured for them to get in. They moved towards the car, and as she turned to get in Riley took one more look at the child who had almost become a statistic. She put a hand on her belly and smiled knowing that somewhere else in the world a mother would go to sleep tonight knowing that the child she thought lost, was alive and physically well.

* * *

"You okay babe? You've been kinda distracted all evening," Letty said as she slipped into bed later that night. She had a feeling she knew why but wanted the younger woman to confirm it to be on the safe side.

"I can't stop thinking about her," Riley said, mindlessly scrolling through YouTube, looking for something to watch.

"Me either," the smaller woman said. "I can't stop seeing the haunted look in her eyes."

" I'm gonna call the detective and make sure she's okay," Riley said getting out of bed and padding over to their bags where she'd tucked away his business card. She punched in the number and then put it on speaker so that they could both hear his end of the conversation.

"Allo?" Came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Detective Ito, it's Riley, we met earlier this afternoon," Riley said.

"Ah yes," Ito said. "Did your business meeting go well?"

"It did, thank you for your help. The reason I'm calling is to check on the girl," Riley said.

" I just took her to a safe house for the night. Her name is Vienna and she's ten years old. Her mother died of a drug overdose last year, and her dad sold her to the mule, knowing exactly what he would do with her. He was fine with it if it meant he didn't have to worry about anything but getting high anymore," Ito explained. "The mule told us the girl had been purchased to work in the Philippines in the sex trades as an exotic girl. There are more details that I cannot release yet but will tell you as soon as I can."

"Oh my God, the poor thing. Her fucking sperm donor should rot in jail," Letty said. "Actually, what he should do is illegal."

"We have contacted the authorities in her hometown, and he has been taken into custody. We have several moms and dads at the office who have all voiced a similar opinion," the detective said, with a touch of humor in his voice.

"The reason I called, I wanted to find out if we could pick her up in the morning and spend the day with her," Riley said, chancing a look at Letty who smiled and nodded eagerly. "Take her shopping, that kind of thing."

"I noticed she seemed to be attached to you, and I think it might help her to not be so afraid by being around people who look and sound like she does. What hotel are you staying at? I will make arrangements for her to meet you in the lobby tomorrow morning," he said.

"The Grand Hyatt Tokyo," Riley answered. "Around nine would be great."

"I will call them as soon as we're done and let them know to have her ready," Ito said. "When your day is through, give me a call and I'll have someone come pick her up."

"One more thing, if possible, keep it a secret. She needs something like this right now to help her not have bad memories of this city," Letty requested.

"I can arrange that too. We definitely want her to remember our city as a lovely place, and not a place where nightmares happen," he said. "You ladies have a good evening."

"You too," Riley said and then ended the call. She half turned and put her phone on the nightstand, before turning back. "I want to spoil her as much as we can get away with tomorrow, without her turning into a brat."

"Agreed. It sounds like she's never had the chance to be a kid, much less a kid on vacation, and never mind being loved," Letty replied.

"Ugh, my heart hurts for her just thinking about it," Riley said.

"Mine too," Letty agreed. "Maybe tomorrow we can start to change that. At least for a little while."

"I hope so," Riley said. "I want her to go to bed tomorrow night with a smile on her face, and a head full of memories that remind her that someone out there cares about her."

Letty could sense her beginning to get angry. "She will baby," she soothed. "She will."

* * *

The next morning the two women stepped into the hotel lobby and instantly spotted an officer who waved at them. Vienna turned to see who he was waving at and her face lit up, making the two women laugh. The ten-year-old got out of the chair and came barreling towards them.

Letty stepped in front of Riley and intercepted the girl who threw her arms around the smaller woman in an enthusiastic hug. "Hey you!" Letty said cheerfully. "Gotta be careful. She's gonna have a baby."

They watched as then ten-year old's face broke into a huge smile, and she let go of Letty, moving to give Riley an excited but cautious embrace. Riley could tell from the girl's grip that she was just as excited as before, but understood she had to tone down her enthusiasm. "So, what did they tell you?" She asked.

"Just that I was being taken to spend the day with someone. I'm glad it's not another doctor," Vienna answered.

"We’re glad it's not a doctor too. We don't have any meetings today, so we thought we'd spend it with you, how's that sound?" Letty asked.

"Really great," the ten-year-old replied. "Really, really, great."

"Good, we think so too," Letty agreed. "We're gonna go with Taeko, she's our translator. She's meeting us at the mall that's not too far from here."

"Did you have breakfast yet?" Riley asked. Vienna nodded. "Good, then I think our first stop at the mall should be to get somebody some new clothes."

Vienna lit up again. "Thank you!" She exclaimed. She leaned in close to the two women and then dropped her voice to a whisper. "I don't really like what they gave me, but I didn't wanna be rude."

Both women chuckled at the girl's honesty. "Then let's get going," Riley said. As they headed for the entrance to the hotel, Vienna reached up, automatically taking both women by the hand.

Riley felt her heart skip a beat, and her hand closed around the girl's like it was the most natural thing in the world. She hadn't told Letty yet, but she really hoped today went well, because if she had her way Vienna would be going back to the states as the newest member of their family.

* * *

After meeting Taeko at the mall she had taken them to a clothing shop for girls Vienna’s age. They had given her free reign to pick what she liked, and she had agreed to let them say yes or no as she tried each outfit on. "Do you want one of us to go in with you?" Letty asked as they headed for the dressing rooms with an armload of things to try.

Vienna shook her head. "I'll be okay," she said.

Letty hung everything on one of the hooks inside the room. "Remember to make two separate piles. One for yes, one for no," she said.

"And it's okay if you try something on, not like it, and take it off again without showing us," Riley added, sitting down on the bench just outside the room.

Vienna nodded, and Letty closed the curtain before joining Riley on the bench. She spoke in an undertone, not wanting to give away their plans. "I think our next stop should be somewhere to get something to cuddle with," she said. "And maybe a few other things to play with."

"We also gotta get her a suitcase or some sort of bag to pack everything into," Riley added.

The giggling that came from the fitting room caught their attention. "What is it?" Riley asked.

The curtain slid back, and Vienna appeared "It didn't look this short on the hanger," she said.

Both women smiled. While the outfit wasn’t ridiculously short on her long frame, it did give off the appearance that she’d outgrown it. "You're right it didn't," Letty agreed.

"That one is definitely a no," Riley said.

Vienna nodded in agreement, closing the curtain, and moving onto the next outfit, not quite able to stop giggling.

Sitting on the bench Letty hoped that an opportunity presented itself sometime soon so she could talk to Riley about the girl before they had to call for her to be picked up. Provided the girl didn't have any extended family, when they flew home in a couple of days, she wanted Vienna to go back to California with them, as a part of their family.

The way she fit in with them was too perfect, as if she'd always been their little girl. Instead of having her picked up to go back to a foreign safe house, she should be snuggling down at night and going to bed in the safest place possible, and as far as Letty was concerned that place was with them. She just hoped Riley felt the same way she did, she didn't want to live with the guilt of knowing Vienna was gonna be abandoned all over again if they had to leave her behind. They could make this work; she knew they could. She just had to convince Riley.

  
After spending the day shopping and sightseeing with the ten year old they were headed to a place that Taeko had suggested for an early dinner that had an area for children to play in while they waited for food. They gave Vienna permission to go play, and Taeko accompanied her to help her deal with the language barrier. Riley took advantage of the situation to express her desire to adopt the girl. "Is it bad that I'm trying to think of stuff to do after we eat to keep from having to say goodbye?" She asked.

"Yeah, me too," Letty agreed. "I've had so much fun with her today."

"Actually, I don't want to have to say goodbye, ever," Riley said, anxiously biting her lower lip.

Letty chuckled; this was gonna go way easier than she expected. "Yeah, me too," she parroted. "If I didn't think it would cause a manhunt, I'd tell you to call Ito and tell him we wanted to adopt her and weren't bringing her back."

"We just got your name cleared, why are you already trying to pick up more charges?" Riley teasingly asked. "After we eat I'll give him a call and see about her staying overnight. I'll tell him our reason why is because provided she doesn't have extended family to take her, we want to petition to adopt her. "

"Perfect," the smaller woman said. She was prevented from saying more by the return of Vienna and Taeko. The two women shared a look, silently agreeing to shelve their plans until later.

* * *

After dinner, they walked part of the way back to their hotel with Taeko, before she parted ways to be able to catch a train home. Riley had been taking pictures of Vienna all day and was going through them as they continued towards the hotel. When Letty noticed they were approaching a 7-11, an idea popped into her head. “Can you have your own snacks at the group home?” She asked the ten-year old.

“Yes, as long as they’re not too messy,” Vienna answered.

The smaller woman smiled. “Riley just got a text message and needs to make a phone call,” she said giving the younger woman a pointed look, and hoping she’d get the hint. “Why don’t you and I go in the 7-11 and get you some goodies while she takes care of it?”

“Okay,” Vienna said, letting go of Riley’s hand.

For her part, Riley realized what Letty had done and quickly dialed Ito’s number. “Good evening, are you ready for your young charge to be picked up?” He asked when he answered the phone.

“Not exactly. I realize it’s a bit of a long shot, but unless she’s got extended family who are willing to take her, my partner and I want to adopt her,” Riley replied.

“I’ve been working her case all day, and it’s not as much of a long shot as you think,” Ito said. “It turns out her parents are former members of a particularly strict religious sect, and as they left, the child is not recognized by either side of her family, so she is essentially an orphan at this point.”

“Alright, so what do we need to do next? Who do I need to speak to?” Riley asked.

“Under normal circumstances this would be treated as any other International adoption. However, after a second interview with the mule we’ve learned some additional information. She ran away from him the first night they arrived here, and somehow survived on the street until the day she ran into you. She’s also in the country illegally, and both things work in your favor,” he explained. “She’s considered a ward of the government, but due to her ethnicity we’re reluctant to place her in a children’s home as it’s highly unlikely she would leave it before she’s of age. I suspected that by the end of the day you would be just as attached to her as she is to you, so I went ahead and made all the necessary phone calls.”

Riley’s heart broke at learning Vienna had been fending for herself for the better part of the week, but she pushed that aside. “So, what do we need to do?” She questioned.

“For now, nothing. How long are you here for?” Ito asked.

“Til the end of the week. We fly out Saturday morning,” Riley answered.

“Tomorrow I will call and set your appointment to appear before a judge. Normally adoption cases tend to take a couple of months to get through the system, but several judges keep open slots for emergency cases like this. I’ll pick you up and take you to the appointment where everything will be made official,” Ito said.

“That’s it?” Riley asked.

“That’s it,” Ito replied. “Starting right now, for all intents and purposes, she’s legally your daughter. Congratulations.”

Riley felt as if she was going to explode. “Thank you!” She exclaimed, and in her excitement, disconnected the call. Realizing what she’d done she quickly fired off a text.

**So sorry! Got excited. Have a good night.**

She looked up and noticed that Letty and Vienna were approaching with a small bag filled with treats and goodies, and she gave the smaller woman a thumbs up, silently confirming what they’d been hoping to do. Letty’s face morphed into a massive grin. Riley decided to have a little fun with what they’d been told. “So, I just got off the phone with Detective Ito,” she said as they started off towards the hotel again. “How would you like to spend the night with us?”

“Can I really?” Vienna asked excitedly, bouncing along the sidewalk as they walked.

“Yes you can,” Letty answered. “But we’ll need to stop at the next convenience store we come to, to get you some stuff to take a bath and brush your teeth.”

“Okay,” the ten-year old said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Riley looked at her phone again and noted the time. “When we get back to the hotel we’ll get all the tags and stuff off your clothes and get them put away, along with your toys. That’ll give you a couple of hours to play before bath and bedtime. Sound good?” She asked.

Vienna nodded. She took both women by the hand again, and they continued towards the hotel.

* * *

A short while later the trio entered their suite, Riley taking advantage of all the rustling bags to murmur in Letty’s ear as she locked up. “The pool is a surprise,” she said.

Letty nodded, and they kept the girl between them as they made their way through the suite and into the bedroom. “I’m gonna give you a bag. I want you to take it in the bathroom and put on what’s in it, then come find us okay?” Riley asked.

“Okay,” the ten-year-old said without hesitation. She took the bag that Riley handed her and carried it into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Riley picked up the rest of the bags, she and Letty sharing a smile as they made their way out to the suite’s private pool.

They deposited everything on the table and Riley dumped out the contents of one of the smaller bags. “So that’s where you snuck off to,” Letty said with a grin as she watched the taller woman open several packages of pool toys and toss them in the water.

“This would’ve been irresistible to me at her age, and I thought it would be mean to bring her up here without a way for her to get in,” Riley said, opening a pair of goggles. She saw Vienna appear in the common area but went towards the sectioned off area that was meant to act as the dining room. “She’s looking for us, get a camera ready.” 

Letty quickly pulled her phone from her pocket, unlocked it, and activated the camera. She turned to face the door, and when she saw Vienna come back around the corner and figure out where they were she started recording.

The ten-year-old let out a high pitched squeal at the sight of the pool, pushing the door open and then running towards the edge, executing a perfect cannonball as she hit the water and making both women laugh. Vienna came up for air and paddled over to the ladder, climbing out of the water, and padding over to the two women. “This is awesome!” She exclaimed.

Riley handed her the goggles. “Put these on so your eyes don’t get all red from the chlorine,” she instructed.

Vienna nodded and quickly put them on. She started to run back to the pool but caught herself, returning to the table and kissing each woman’s cheek in turn. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome cutie,” Riley said. Vienna ran back to the pool and jumped in, and now that she was pre-occupied Riley filled Letty in on the rest of her conversation with the detective. “Apparently Ito expected this, so he’s already taken care of all the necessary steps for us. He’s calling in the morning to get us an emergency appointment for Friday since we’re flying home Saturday. That’s when everything becomes official,” she explained as she pulled a stack of clothing from one of the bags and began taking off the tags and stickers. 

“I’m not waiting til Friday. Starting right now, if anyone asks, she’s our daughter,” Letty said, taking the pieces from Riley and folding them into neat stacks. 

“I’m not waiting til Friday either. What do you think about giving her a new name?” Riley asked.

“I like the idea if she’s okay with it. I think it will help her get past what’s happened to her,” Letty answered.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Riley replied. “I’m gonna see how she likes Scarlett Raven.”

“I like that,” Letty said. “I think we should ask her if there’s something she wants to be called though.”

“Plan on it, she might have something picked that sounds better,” Riley said.

Several hours later, after having dinner outside on the patio to allow Vienna to maximize her pool time, the couple settled on the sofa in the living room while the ten-year-old showered. “I hope this goes the way we want it to, I kinda doubt it, but there’s a chance that she might want a family that has a mommy and a daddy,” Letty said.

Soft footfalls caught their attention, and they looked up to see the ten-year old pad into the front room, hairbrush in hand. Riley beckoned her over, and gestured for her to sit on her lap. Riley took the brush and began running it through the girl’s waist length hair. “So, you know how I said I spoke to Detective Ito?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Vienna answered.

“I didn’t just ask him if you could spend the night with us,” Riley said.

“Okay…” Vienna replied, her tone indicating she wasn’t sure what was going on.

“She asked him if you could be our little girl forever, and he said that it was up to you,” Letty said.

Vienna got out of Riley’s lap and quickly padded into the bedroom. The couple worried they had upset her until they heard a slightly muffled high-pitched squeal, which made them laugh. The girl came back into the front room and sat down on Riley’s lap again. “I’d like that,” she said.

“It won’t be made official til Friday, but as far as we’re concerned, starting right now you’re our daughter,” Letty said.

“Can I call you mommy and momma yet, or do you want me to wait until Friday?” Vienna asked.

“You can do that now, but you gotta tell us which one of us is which,” Letty answered.

“You’re mommy, she’s momma,” Vienna replied.

“I’m mommy, and Riley is momma,” Letty repeated and the ten-year old nodded.

“Mommy and momma it is,” Riley said. “We wanted to ask; do you want a new name to go along with your new life?”

The girl nodded eagerly. “I hate my name. He said she named me after her favorite food,” she said.

Letty winced at hearing the girl reveal she was named after a processed meat product. Now she was determined to give the girl a different name. “Do you have something picked that you want to change it to?” Riley asked. Vienna looked confused, so Riley reworded her question. “If you could change it to anything, what would you pick?”

Letty smiled as the girl bit her lip much like Riley did when being put on the spot for something she thought was trivial, but glad someone asked her. “Scarlett or Raven,” Vienna said.

“I like both of those,” Letty said.

“Me too,” Riley agreed, putting the brush on the end table. “How about we combine them and make Raven your middle name?”

The ten-year-old nodded and started to speak, but she was cut off by a large yawn, making both women chuckle. “Somebody’s sleepy,” Letty said teasingly.

“Somebody had too much fun in the pool,” Riley chimed in.

Scarlett nodded again and twisted at the waist just enough to see Riley’s face. “Am I squishing him?” She asked, putting a hand on the baby bump.

“No, you’re not squishing him,” Riley answered.

Scarlett shifted to sit crossways on Riley’s lap and leaned in, resting her head on the taller woman’s shoulder and letting out a content sigh. Riley bit down on her tongue to keep the tears at bay as she folded her arms around the girl’s petite frame. She rested her cheek against the top of Scarlett’s head, and the three of them floated along in sleepy, blissful silence.

The serenity was broken several minutes later when Letty realized Scarlett was silently crying. “What’s wrong?” She asked, concerned.

“He sold me on purpose,” Scarlett blubbered before she began to cry in earnest. Neither woman spoke as she cried, her choking sobs tearing at their hearts and bringing tears to their own eyes.

Scarlett blindly reached out a hand and Letty took it, giving the fingers a reassuring squeeze. “It’s alright sweetheart; mommy’s here, momma’s gotcha,” she soothed.

“I don’t wanna talk about him ever again,” the ten-year-old hiccupped when her tears began to slow. “I want it to go away, and never have to talk about any of it ever again.”

“Then starting right now, we won’t talk about any of it unless you bring it up,” Riley murmured. “Once the proceedings are done, if anyone asks, you were the daughter of a family friend, and she left it in her paperwork that we were to get custody of you if anything happened to her, okay?”

Scarlett nodded. Letty gently let go of the girl’s hand and got up, disappearing down the hall. She came back moments later with a wet washcloth, handing it to the ten-year-old as she sat back down. “Sit up and wipe your face,” she gently instructed.

Scarlett sat up and took the cloth and wiped her face with it, Riley taking it from her when she was done and putting it with the brush to be picked up later. Scarlett put her head back on Riley’s shoulder with a weary sigh. “Close your eyes and try to relax,” the taller woman said. “Tomorrow, mommy and I have a business meeting, and as soon as it’s all done we’ll do some more stuff to get you ready to come home okay?”

Scarlett nodded. “We’re having a house built, and we need your input on how you want your room to look,” Letty said. “We’ll let you have complete control over what you want it to look like, unless it’s not possible to do what you want okay?”

“Kay,” the ten-year-old said faintly. Neither woman said anymore, and both smiled as they listened to the girl’s breathing slowly deepen and even out.

“Spends the end of the first day of a brand new life falling asleep in her momma’s arms,” Letty murmured. “Can’t say it gets much better than that.”

Riley smiled, pressing her chin to her chest, and kissing the top of the girl’s head. They sat in silence for a while, wanting to make sure Scarlett wouldn’t wake up when they moved her to put her to bed. When they were sure she was all the way out, Letty stood and turned to take her. She gently pulled the ten-year-old up and then lifted her into her arms.

Scarlett didn’t wake, and Letty carried her to bed. Riley’s head dropped back, and she closed her eyes with a sigh. When they got back to the States she’d make some phone calls and make sure Scarlett’s sperm donor was properly dealt with. She heard Letty’s soft footfalls as the smaller woman returned to the living room, and she opened her eyes, lifting her head as she reached the sofa.

They shared a quick kiss and Letty snagged the TV remote as she sat back down. She turned the unit on, and tuned into NHK World. Riley grabbed a pillow, and stretched out, propping the pillow against Letty’s thigh. “Between now and the plane ride home, we need to be thinking about house rules for her. I don’t think we should say anything to her until then, she still needs time to adjust,” the smaller woman said.

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Riley agreed. “I don’t want us to go overboard, but I don’t want us to be too lax either.”

“We’ve got a few days yet, tomorrow night once she’s in bed we’ll start getting serious about it,” Letty said. “This is not how I thought this trip would turn out, but I’m glad it did.”

“Me too,” Riley agreed.

Sometime in the night Riley was awakened by her screaming bladder, and she got out of bed, quietly shuffling into the bathroom. The low light they had left on for Scarlett allowed her to be able to pee without disturbing Letty or their daughter. When she was done she wiped herself, her heart skipping a beat when she saw the blood on the toilet paper. If she was bleeding it could only be caused by one thing. Miscarriage. _No no no! Please!_

She forced herself to stay calm, quickly pulling up her pajama bottoms and padding back into the bedroom where she shook Letty awake. “S’wrong?” The smaller woman mumbled. The look on Riley’s face snapped her out of her haze.

“I’m bleeding,” Riley hissed.

Letty instantly flung the blankets back and jumped out of bed. “Wake up Scarlett, I’m gonna go get them to call an ambulance,” she said and then hurried around the room.

Riley padded around to the other bed, and woke the ten-year-old. Scarlett sat up, a bit disoriented. “Momma doesn’t feel well and we have to go to the hospital. I need you to wake up for me okay?” She asked, using the girl as a distraction to keep her nerves at bay.

Scarlett nodded and immediately got out of bed, and hurried into the bathroom. Riley padded out to the living room where Letty was just hanging up the phone. “It will take them just a few minutes. They’re alerting emergency services who will make arrangements to send an ambulance and take you to an emergency room that has an English speaking doctor. They want us to come downstairs, and the crew will meet us in the lobby,” Letty explained.

"I'm gonna go change right quick. You stay like you are, that way you're comfortable if they want to keep you overnight."  
  
"I woke Scarlett, if she hasn't changed leave her in her pj's so she can come straight back to bed when we get back," Riley replied, sitting down on the sofa.   
  
Scarlett came out into the living room and sat down near Riley but kept her distance. Riley thought nothing of the behavior, figuring she was still just sleepy. It appeared that she had brushed out her hair, and had brought the stuffed Hello Kitty she'd gotten earlier with her.  
  
Letty came back into the front room several minutes later and took Riley's wallet and cell phone out of her bag, stuffing it in the smaller woman's purse. She made sure she had a room key and then turned to her partner and their daughter. "Okay, let's go," she said.  
  
They got up and followed her, and all three were silent as they made their way down the hall and stepped into the elevator. When they reached the ground floor and stepped out into the lobby they noticed the ambulance crew was coming in the door. A female employee walked from behind the concierge desk, having recognized them from earlier. "This is your patient," she explained simply.   
  
The female medic offered them a reassuring smile. "Who actually needs medical attention?" She asked with a slightly noticeable accent.  
  
Riley held up her hand and the medic gently patted the gurney. When she noticed that Scarlett was holding both their hands, she smiled again. "Do you want to ride too?"  
  
Scarlett shook her head and dropped her gaze to the floor, which was again brushed off by the couple as her just being cranky at being woken up in the middle of the night. Riley sat down on the stretcher and swung her legs up, the male medic covering her with a soft blanket. They fastened the straps over her legs and then wheeled her out to the ambulance, Letty and Scarlett following close behind.

* * *

A couple of hours later, once the doctors had taken care of the testing and found that Riley wasn't in immediate danger, Letty walked along the hall towards the children's waiting area, where Scarlett had been taken to allow her to go back to sleep. Letty entered the room and found the girl sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, hugging her legs to her chest and crying. “What’s wrong?” She asked as she padded over.

“Momma put me to bed, and now she might lose the baby,” Scarlett snuffled, looking up at Letty.

Letty made a beckoning gesture with her hands, picking the girl up when she stood. "Momma didn't put you to bed baby, I did. You fell asleep, and I picked you up off momma's lap and carried you to bed," she soothed.   
  
"But she said she was bleeding," Scarlett blubbered.  
  
Letty winced internally, the couple had been unaware the girl had overheard them. "Do you know what an umbilical cord is?" She asked cautiously.  
  
"It's how momma's feed their babies before they're born, and how you get a belly button," Scarlett answered.   
  
"That's right. They think your brother somehow hooked his on his foot when he was turning over, and made it tear just a tiny bit, which made momma bleed. It's already stopped," Letty said, hoping it sounded believable. The truth was they'd gotten a bit carried away in the shower, and dislodged part of the lining, which thankfully wasn't uncommon either. "Now, how about you blow your nose, and then we'll go up to momma's room and you can cuddle with her a while?"  
  
The ten year old nodded, wiping her eyes on the inside of her shirt. Letty turned and snagged a couple of tissues, handing them to the girl as she carried her out of the room. Scarlett clung to her and continued to sob intermittently as she made her way back to Riley’s room. When she entered the private room, Riley grew concerned at the sight of Scarlett in tears for the second time in less than six hours. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Someone thought momma’s gonna lose her baby because she put her to bed,” Letty explained, sitting Scarlett on the foot of the bed.

“C’mere,” Riley said. Scarlett crawled up the bed, and Letty helped her slip beneath the blankets to cuddle a few minutes before they had to leave. She snuggled down, Riley curling an arm around the ten-year-old as she put her head on her momma's shoulder. "Do you hafta stay?" She snuffled, her hand loosely clutching a fistfull of the top Riley had on.  
  
"I do for a few more hours," Riley whispered, finger combing the girl's hair. "You and mommy are gonna go back to the hotel and go to sleep, and when you wake up again it will be time for me to come back."  
  
"Wish I could stay here, or you could go home now," Scarlett said. She shifted so that her face was nearly pressed into Riley's breast, and the two women smiled when they realized she was inhaling as deeply as she could, pulling Riley's scent as far down into her lungs as she could get it.  
  
"I wish I could do those too, but the doctors have to make sure your brother is okay. You don't need to cry anymore, okay?" Riley said. "Your brother is just fine, momma is just fine and you didn't do anything to cause this alright?"  
  
Scarlett nodded but she didn't budge.  
  
"I know you don't wanna kiddo, but we gotta go now. Momma needs to rest so she can come home in a little while," Letty said.  
  
"Gimmie love," Riley said. Scarlett sat up and gave her a kiss before carefully climbing out from under the covers.   
  


Letty and Riley shared a quick kiss, and Letty smoothed the younger woman’s hair back. “Get some rest, we’ll be back soon,” she said.

Riley nodded, snuggling down into the blankets as Letty lead Scarlett from the room, closing the door behind her.


End file.
